Their Hearts Within: Adversaries
by TorNathan
Summary: Pt. 1 - Sora and his friends are called to action once more when the Princesses of Hearts go missing. Maleficent plots her revenge and uprising, bringing in new and very powerful allies to help secure Kingdom Hearts for herself. The heroes of light each go on their missions to stop the threat, but they also must face inner conflict and change, from their own hearts within.
1. A New Adventure

**_Author's Note_**

 _Hello! If you're an old time reader, welcome to something familiar but also vastly different. And if you're a newcomer, welcome to what will be a really fun, big, exciting, crossover supreme burrito of a story! It's Kingdom Hearts and anything else you want crammed into one epic story. This story will follow the events of Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix. It will have a bunch of original content in it and will also feature new and old characters. So, this, essentially, is a giant rewrite of my "Harbinger of Light" series. Herald and I stopped writing together, and I also wanted to rewrite the story with a new plot and with much better skill. My skill has improved immensely since last you read something on here, and this rewrite is going to prove that. So if you read "Harbinger" and loved it, then get ready for a wonderful story. If you're new, then you, too, get ready for a wonderful story! Either way, I really hope you all enjoy the ride!_

 _When you finish the chapter, leave me a review to help me improve and see what you would like changed with the story, or where you would want it to go!_

 _I would like to dedicate this story to **Lucenthia**. He's been one of my closest friends for a very long time. He inspired me to get back into all of this. So this entire story goes out to him. I hope you love it, bro._

 _Rated T for violence, mild language, blood, substance use, and adult themes._

 _Disclaimer for rest of the story: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any other owned work that will show up within. This is merely a fan fiction written for fun by a bored author who should actually be studying._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter I**

 **A New Adventure**

 _I don't know when it all started … the darkness, I guess had always been there, suppressed for so long. Here I was now, thinking to when King Mickey visited us so long ago. I hadn't seen him in a year, and when he visited us, I was happy. I smiled. I felt so happy to be in my gummi ship again, to go out on a new adventure. Everything was really great. I was optimistic. I knew we would win._

 _Part of me likes to think I actually regret the journey that followed, but another part of me wants to finish this story, especially as I run forward, ready to embrace what could be anything, but most surely my death … as darkness stares back and our hearts merge._

 _~THW~_

"No, Sora, you don't get it."

"Well of course I don't get it Kai! I suck at math. Why are we even studying? It's summer!"

Sora threw down his pencil and stretched before running off into the sand, barefooted and calling out wildly to his friend. "Come on, Kai! Stop being such a nerd and join us!" The ocean was brilliantly blue at noon, and it crashed onto the small little play island again and again. He enjoyed the feeling of the wind.

"Sora, school starts back in two weeks, and you almost failed math last term," Kairi said.

"Oh … well, er … I-I'll do better this time! But come on, it's summer still. Please?" He turned around and gave her over-exaggerated pouting lips. He twisted a foot in place for a boost. She giggled slightly, covering her lips with her hand.

"Okay, but just for today," she told him, smiling softly. He let out a whoop of victory before rushing out into the water. Their third friend, Riku, was already in the water, lazily floating with the waves.

"You two finally done studying?" he asked with a chuckle. His silver hair floated idly.

"I guess. It's so boring," Sora yawned.

"Hey! Math isn't boring," Kairi huffed. She dove into the water from the paopu tree. Sora smiled widely at her as she emerged. "And why are you smiling like that? All school subjects are fun!" Kairi's eye's narrowed when Sora laughed.

"Well, after seeing everything out there," he said with a wave to the sky, "I just … I just miss everything." Kairi swam to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Her hand was warm compared to the water.

"Sora …"

"But school really is _so boring_!" he exclaimed. Kairi splashed him violently while he pretended to drown from her fierce waves. Riku chuckled at them again. He bounced back into the fresh air.

"Can you really believe it's been over a year since we defeated Xemnas?" Riku asked them. He was staring up at the cloudless sky. Sora shook his dark hair, showering Kairi's face in the process, much to her discontent.

"Yeah, he was pretty tough to fight. I liked his swords a lot," he replied.

"Sora, really …?"

"Sheesh, Kai! I just liked how they were all _shwoosh_ and _zwoom-zwoom_ and stuff." Sora waved invisible blades through the air. The three of them broke into laughter. That was a sound they all had missed: their shared laughter.

"I'm just glad life went back to normal," Kairi said. After playing a bit in the water, they waded back towards the shore and lay languidly on the sand. Water seeped into their clothes. Many meters away, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie trained as usual. It was really like they were thirteen again, not on the verge of seventeen.

"After saving the worlds twice, I really started to miss home." He said.

"Come on, Sora, now you're being _too_ modest," Riku said, jabbing Sora in the arm, pushing him hard enough to tilt him off balance.

"Do you ever wonder if they're all thinking of us?" Kairi asked.

"Who?" Sora replied after sitting back up.

"The King, Donald, Goofy, everyone at Radiant Garden … the Princesses of Light, or even all the friends you made in each world."

"Well, I know they think of us. Because our hearts are all connected, and if one of us feels the other, I think they feel it back," Sora explained. "But yeah, I really miss them all."

"Come on, let's not get sad. Hey! I made some sushi at home. Let's have lunch, guys," Kairi said. Sora almost did a flip at the mention of food. Riku went and unfurled the blue blanket over the sand. Kairi grabbed the red cooler from the small shack and got everything ready. Sora's muscles tingled in excitement, his stomach growled. He bit his lower lip.

"Two boxes for Sora because he eats—" She was interrupted by Sora grabbing his boxes and chopsticks from her instantly.

"I _love_ it when you make sushi, Kai," he said gratefully. He was already halfway done with one box by the time Kairi and Riku were even beginning their own. She was so perfect at this, he thought.

"Some things never change," Riku said.

"Ugh, his heart gets so wild when he's eating Kairi's sushi," Roxas said, grimacing and emerging from Sora's chest in a blue orb of light. In a second it had transformed into an ethereal form of Sora's Nobody. Soon after, Naminé appeared in a glow of gold.

"Come now, Roxas, you know how he is," Naminé said with a small smile. Her white dress flapped in the sea breeze. Both Nobodies stood before the trio.

"Yes, he has a heart and I'm very much reminded of it," Roxas said bitterly, shooting her a sharp stare. She sighed and walked around the shack towards another part of the island. Roxas silently followed.

"Um, are they always like that?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, Roxas is always so down. Kinda gets to me at times," Sora said.

"Naminé usually tries to soothe him. It works sometimes," Kairi explained. "Where we're all connected to Sora, it's like the two can always talk to each other."

"It's actually kind of freaky," Sora said with a shudder, finishing his second box. Kairi dropped her jaw. He patted his belly and smiled his signature smile.

"Sora! Do you _even_ try to savor your food?" she asked snappishly. He walked into the shack and came back with his acoustic guitar. It was something he had been trying to learn since being home. He enjoyed the feel of playing it. Something about the music was nice and relaxing. He smiled at Kairi, thinking about how pretty her hair was in the sunlight, then he felt the blush creep up his face.

"I savor it in my stomach, Kairi. Best place for food." He laughed before strumming some random chords. The vibrations sang through his body and cried in the air.

"Do you actually practice?" Riku asked.

"Yeah."

"Doesn't sound like it …" Riku smirked.

"Hey! Better than you!" Sora exclaimed to his long-time rival.

"Hmm … maybe," Riku replied, and then laughed. Kairi joined in while Sora blushed again.

While Kairi and Riku talked about the upcoming term, Sora played his guitar, picking chords and licks at the steel strings. He would steal glances at the two of them, his eyes always leaving Kairi last. She really was beautiful, and finally spending a normal year with her really deepened his relationship with her. Riku, too.

" _And I—_ "

"Please, do _not_ start singing, I don't think I could handle that torture," Riku begged. Sora let his guitar fall to the blanket as he charged after Riku, now running away. Sora summoned the Kingdom Key to his hand and constructed a wall of ice in front of his best friend. Riku jumped and kicked off it, flipping backwards and willing his Keyblade to his hand, showering Sora in embers and bright flame. Patches of sand scorched to black char.

The boys—and Kairi not as often—sparred to practice their abilities. But it just wasn't the same as fighting hundreds of Heartless, Nobodies, or even the imposing Organization. And as Sora dodged and weaved through Riku's offense, he actually felt a part of himself missing that action, the adventure. But the worlds were safe, and that was what ultimately mattered. And also taking Riku down.

"Thundaga!" Sora cried. Arcs of electricity jumped at Riku and found their mark. The contracting muscles forced him to drop his weapon. Sora swept in and secured the battle.

"You know …" Riku panted heavily. They walked back to Kairi who was getting them some water ready. "I really hate Thunder attacks."

"Why do you think I use them?" Sora replied, thrusting a tongue out at his best friend. Riku shoved him playfully before they flopped down onto the blanket.

"And now I have to use the heavy-duty wash," Kairi said, feigning annoyance. "You guys always stink this thing up with your sweat."

"Sorry, Kairi."

"Yeah, sorry. But at least I don't stink like Riku!" Sora laughed, not afraid of Riku's glare. Eventually, Riku laughed, too. Sora loved summer for just this reason. Spending every day with his best friends, playing, swimming, fighting, and relaxing. He slowly picked at his guitar while Kairi listened. Riku simply lay down on the blanket, soaking in the sun. It was as if the tension and hardships of the previous journeys had washed out of Sora. Life felt great for the first time in a long time, and he wouldn't let anyone or anything take that from him.

Hours later, while the sun dipped itself into the water, the trio was napping calmly. With a loud yell, Sora woke up with a jolt. He sprung upward, followed quickly by Kairi and Riku. Falling from the sky with a great _crash_ into the water was a gummi ship. It was large and red, highlighted with golden stripes. _Highwind_ painted on the side. Sora felt his heart leap from his chest.

"My ship!" he yelled out. The muscles of his legs carried him in a dashing run to it. The ship idled up to the shore, coming to a peaceful stop. The sun had fallen beneath the horizon, painting everything a deep red. The hangar door opened and out stumbled three people, landing in a tangled mess in the sand.

"Watch it, Goofy!" came a quacky voice.

"Donald? Goofy?" Sora rushed to them. It was already a perfect day, but he felt like he just woke up again. His young body was revitalized with more energy at the sight of his old friends.

"Sora!" the jumbled mass screamed. The boy helped each of them to their feet. Donald was ruffling his white feathers, shaking sand out of anything he could. Goofy gave a wild shake, throwing his hat into the water, which he glumly retrieved. And then …

"King Mickey!" Sora yelled. He ran to the small king and gave him a big hug. He nearly toppled the regal mouse with his enthusiasm before backing up hurriedly.

"O-oh, sorry, Your Majesty." Sora quickly bowed.

"Oh, geez, Sora. You don't gotta be sorry," Mickey replied, before giving Sora his own hug. And right on cue, Donald and Goofy piled onto him, knocking them all into a heap in the sand.

"A-ah! Guys! I missed you, too!" Sora said wildly. He tried to breathe with the weight of his friends on him. He pushed at them until they rolled off. He sat up in the rising water and they hugged him.

"Gawrsh, Sora! We haven't seen you in so long!" Goofy's whiskers poked into Sora's smooth face. Donald's feathers did the same.

"Yeah! Have you been behaving yourself?" Donald asked warily.

"Haha, of course I have," Sora replied.

"Come on, fellas, we're here on a mission," the King said with a beckoning hand. Everyone followed him to the docks where they sat on the smooth wood.

"Your visit is really shocking, Mickey," Riku said.

"I know, and I wish I could've come for better reasons, but there's trouble brewin' out there, and I need you guys again …" The King paused and turned a solemn face to the water. It swelled softly beneath the dock. Sora felt concerned for King Mickey.

 _"I'm on my way,"_ Roxas told Sora. His Nobody could feel that something was going awry. And within moments, Roxas and Naminé rounded the bend and briskly walked to the group.

"What's the problem, Your Majesty?" Sora asked, tilting his head and bending his feet in front of him.

"Cinderella and Snow White have went missing … and their worlds have vanished," Mickey explained. The teens all gasped.

"What! No, that can't be." Kairi clasped a hand over her chest. Sora knew that the other Princesses of Heart meant a lot to Kairi. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed.

"I'm afraid it's the case, Kairi. They're gone, and I'm afraid the others will be targeted, you too." Mickey gave her a grave stare, and all his normal cheerfulness was just replaced by gray dullness.

"Who is doing this?" Sora asked.

"Maleficent," Riku answered as he stood up. "Who else?"

"I believe it's her, too," King Mickey said. "And I want to ask you all for help in stopping her."

"Count me in!" Sora excitedly said as he jumped to his feet. "I'm ready for another adventure to save some people and kick her butt!"

"At least you haven't changed, Sora," Kairi commented, standing next to him. The trio of friends looked down at the mouse.

"We're in," they all said.

"Then let's go. I'll mail your parents, so they know this time," King Mickey said. "Donald will take care of that. It's time for us all to go to Radiant Garden. To the _Highwind_!"

As Roxas and Naminé merged with their Somebodies, everyone walked towards the gummi ship. They were magically larger on the inside than the outside. One by one, everyone entered the ship. Sora stopped at the ramp and looked around at his home. He ran to grab his guitar. Twilight had taken over, and the first specks of stars began to litter the sky. He didn't know the next time he would smell this salty air, feel the breeze, the coarse sand or crashing waves. He jumped up and grabbed a fresh paopu fruit and then boarded the _Highwind_.

"Go get some sleep. I had Chip and Dale install some blocks for extra bedrooms. Sora, your room is still the same." King Mickey then walked into the cockpit to pilot the ship with Donald and Goofy. Sora led his best friends to the sleeping quarters.

"Hey guys," he said, stopping outside his bedroom door.

"What is it, Sora?" Kairi asked.

"Every time we've went on an adventure, we split up. All I know is I never want to lose you guys again. So here …" he held out the paopu fruit and put his guitar down. "Let's share this.

He divided the fruit up, and like the old tales, they shared the fruit, connecting their souls forever. Riku, who looked particularly exhausted, went to one of the new rooms, the automatic door _whooshing_ up behind him. Kairi's own door zoomed down before her.

"H-hey, Kai …" Sora began. She turned around.

"Yeah, Sora?"

He thrust a bit more of the paopu fruit to her. "Will you share this last bit with me?" He blushed warmly. He smiled when she did.

"Of course." Red creeped up her face as they shared the last of the fruit together. Sora felt his heart beat at a thousand times a second. He smiled at her one last time before turning to his room. Then a hand grabbed him and spun him around. She gave him a hug.

"We'll never part again, I promise. It won't happen. I'll never leave you. Just don't leave me," she said into his ear.

"I promise, Kairi," he replied. She broke away from him and entered her bedroom. And he went into his.

Everything had been left the same, but cleaner. Everything was fresh, but all his belongings remained where he kept them. He placed his guitar in the corner before stripping down to his green underwear and silver necklace. The blankets enveloped him in the soft bed. He pressed a button and the lights went out and the windows cleared, showing space outside. All the stars that they passed shined into his room.

 _"It's not going to be easy, is it?"_ he asked his Nobody.

 _"Nothing ever is,"_ Roxas replied.

 _"We'll be just fine. We always win. We'll win this time, too,"_ Sora assured.

 _"I certainly hope so,"_ Roxas said without his usual bitterness or sadness. Sora felt him go quiet. And he slept, too, easily and deeply.

And, perpetually, the stars and worlds just moved on …

 _~THW~_

While Sora slept on his way to Radiant Garden, Maleficent strolled the corridors of the castle at The World That Never Was. She had just checked on two of her prisoners, Cinderella and Snow White. Her plan was to capture the remaining Princesses and unlock Kingdom Hearts. But for now, she had other matters to deal with. Her black cloak swept behind her, billowing over the cold tiles. Her pale green hand grasped her staff tightly as she ascended the stairs to the Altar of Naught.

There, she was greeted by those she would ally herself with.

"Hey there, hoochie mama, what's cookin'?"

"Shut up, fool," she spat. "I did not ask for your childish insolence when I summoned you here."

"Ouch, that hurts," Hades said with a hand over his heart.

She stared at them all, each one unique, each one able to help her in their different ways. Each one she could use or control, or simply have at a moment's notice. They were her tools, but of course she would always uphold her end of the bargains. She looked upon all seven of them and smiled.

"We are closer to our goals than before. Only five more of the Princesses remain. Once they have been collected, true power shall be ours for the taking," she said mightily, a cold cackle cracking through the air.

"I have promised each of you something in return for helping me, and I will make sure to deliver those things. We will discuss the plan in more detail, I assure you. For now, though, I require you to go about your job," she said, turning on the youngest of her allies. She stared the girl deep into her heart. The girl did not look away but Maleficent could feel the fear in the girl's mind and soul.

"Go child, you know what you must do, and do not fail me. I have eyes, Alexia, remember that."

The girl timidly nodded before creating a dark portal and leaving the group. One of the men looked after her with interest. He played with the cuff of his black sleeve, his black cloak blowing in the subtle breeze. Xehanort stepped out next to this man dressed in all black.

"All black is so boring," Xehanort commented with a sly smile. The man in black scoffed. The master swordsman across the Altar smirked. The fiery mage danced about, cackling about magic. A shadowed man wavered in and out, waiting for them to calm. Another removed his hat and fluffed his dark violet hair. Hades shot a fireball at the magician who fired another, much bigger one, back.

"Enough!" Maleficent screamed. The excitement died down.

She then talked with her allies, plotting the ruin to come.

* * *

 ** _Post Author's Note_**

 _Well, there it is, chapter one of the large scale rewrite. I hope a lot of you already notice a lot of changes. It's all for the better, I promise! I really want to dive into each character and really flesh them out. To me, Roxas has already changed considerably, which is great. I was 15 when I first started this story. I'm 21 now. Things have changed everywhere._

 _So, I'm glad you stuck this far. Now go the extra mile and leave me a review in that big box down there! They really help motivate me and also are good to show me what you want to see done differently. Give me criticisms, feedback, etc. What did you like, what did you not? What do you wanna see or not see? I want to hear it all. So leave me your comments!_

 _It was really amazing getting back into this! I'll see you next chapter!_

 _~TorNathan_


	2. Project X

_**Author's Note**_

 _Hello all! Welcome to chapter two. Sorry it took so long to come out. I had midterms and an organized week-long event to run for my university. But now that all that is over, I can finally update the story._

 _Here, we see the other half of this story begin to unfold. Get ready for a bunch of original content mixed with all the Final Fantasy names you've come to love (or hate) in your years._

 _As always, leave a review to help me improve! Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter II**

 **Project X**

He was starting to see faces in the walls. The cracked lines of stone broke and cleaved in different places. After staring at the stone cell surrounding him, for … how long had it actually been? Seven months? Eight? He couldn't remember. His prison had become an extension of his body now. Does someone remember growing their arms? The answer was probably no.

Probably.

The cracks and lines formed faces that he could see. It was early morning. He could tell because of the shuffle of boots outside his wooden door. With no windows, it was exceptionally dark, the only light seeping in from under and around the slivers of the door. The flattened straw beneath him wasn't comfortable. His hair was matted and dirty, his body filthy and pained. His fingernails were chewed away, dirt and blood dried underneath. His lips were cracked and dry.

The cell door busted open, flooding the room with light. The dark silhouette of a guard stood there. The man threw a bucket of water and a small tray of bread at the prisoner. The boy scrambled to the bucket as the door slammed shut. He salvaged what hadn't spilled from the pail and drank it slowly. He ate the stale bread, drank more water, and finished it all. He didn't use any water to bathe. Drinking was too valuable. He didn't care that he stank.

He lay down on the straw, coughing. He nodded on and off for about an hour before another, more important guard, opened the door. The boy scattered backward as far as he could, fear gripping him. The soldier walked over and ripped the boy from the floor. He fought back, but was too weak. The man dragged him along the stones, and out into the smoother hallway. The boy yelled. He was backhanded hard enough to taste copper. He spat on the guard's shoes. The man grasped the boy's hair and continued dragging him.

Fifteen minutes later, he was thrown into a room. A second man was waiting, and the two soldiers picked the prisoner up and strapped him to a cold, metal table. Cuffs along his wrists and ankles locked him down. Another latched around his forehead and then his neck. Then they left, leaving him to struggle against the metal.

The room had many different tools, beakers, cords, and machinery. Soon, an older man walked in, wearing a brown apron over a white uniform. Black, sleek gloves reached up to the man's elbows. His blond hair, patched with gray, was slicked back. He wore slim glasses.

"Hello, Project X," the scientist said calmly. The boy had stopped struggling. He grimaced. Sweat trickled down his back and face.

"Why are you doing this?" X asked.

"It's been six months since you came here. It is time to move forward." The man adjusted his apron. _Cid Carra_ was embroidered on his uniform. He walked out of X's vision and rolled a machine back. Tubes wrapped around it, hydraulic pumps powered on, and a giant vat of swirling darkness thrummed subtly. A long, mechanical arm with a needle extended from it violently. X's eyes widened, and he began to struggle again.

"We are going to begin the process for which you are named, Project X. We are finally going to begin," Cid said sadly as he readied some numbers into the machine. It beeped loudly in the small lab.

"Emperor Mateus … wants a new pet. One stronger than his current …" Cid stated, flipping three red switches the size of his thumb. The darkness swirled much faster.

"… he wants to recreate her, but better …"

Lights flashed on and off from the machine.

"… faster …"

The beeping increased in speed.

"… stronger …"

The hydraulic pumps pumped faster.

"… more … obedient …"

Cid's glasses flickered in the dancing lights.

"… and far deadlier."

He frowned with sad sympathy.

"I'm so sorry."

X shook against the operating table, straining at the leather straps. Cid reached out and grabbed the arm of the machine. He, hesitated a moment, looking into X's blue eyes. The two stared for a hard moment, the sounds of the machine clashing with X's struggles and whimpers. Cid walked over and pulled a leather strap from his apron's pouch. He forced it into X's mouth and laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly.

He backed away and drove the needle deep into X's chest. Every muscle in the boy's body strained, veins popping along his bare arms. Cid ripped the ragged shirt from his chest to inspect the body. Wisps of darkness spilled out from the entry point of the needle. X screamed into the strap, biting hard. Cid plunged the needle in deeper. It skewered into X's heart, sending darkness through his bloodstream. Blood oozed slowly out.

Cid walked away from X and unlocked a cabinet. Inside he pulled out a crystalline flask, full of a sparkling purple substance. He walked back to X and removed the leather from his mouth. He flinched at X's piercing yells. He uncorked the vial.

"Drink this," he told X. X was unsure of what the liquid would do. All he could even think about was the feeling of darkness invading his veins, the pain more searing than a thousand knives slicing into his body. He was slowly losing consciousness from the agony. He could feel every sensation, the touch of the table, the vibrations of the needle, and the flowing breath of Cid.

"Drink it, boy!" Cid ordered. X looked at him and gave up. He allowed Cid to pour the flask into his mouth. The purple ooze was very cold, and slid slowly down his throat like thick sludge. Suddenly, the pain increased.

"That will make the darkness merge …" Cid's voice trailed off as X fought to live through the torture. He almost didn't feel it when Cid sliced open his right forearm. Pure red blood dropped onto the slick stones of the floor. Cid examined it, furrowing his brow in disappointment. He grabbed a large syringe full of more purple liquid and injected it into X's jugular vein. X's vocal cords shot at the scream he let out. Then, he lost all vision as Cid threw a black sack over his head. Fear swelled within X, the malaise increasing, his eyes flowing with tears, and his screams echoing off the walls. He heard the open and shutting of a door, and then he was alone.

 _~THW~_

After an hour, the sack was removed from his head. The machine died as Cid removed the needle from X's chest. All the straps were undone and Cid caught X in his arms. X was too tired and in pain to move. Every fiber of his muscles wracked in pain, his skin burned, and his vision wavered. He puked onto the scientist.

Cid carried him into another room. A large tub sat in the corner next to a hose protruding from the wall. Cid lay X down in the cold tub. X tried to open his eyes, but it was too hard.

"Are you able to undress?" Cid asked. X stared up at him and tried lifting his arms. They could barely tremble anymore. Cid withdrew a knife from his apron and knelt down. He cut X's torn and smelling trousers from him. The boy lay naked in the tub, covered in tiny scars, bruises and cuts. Dirt and dried blood caked his body. Cid shook his head in disbelief and turned a valve. Warm water gushed out of the tube and into the tub.

X lay still as the warm water flowed in. He tried to speak, but couldn't. All he could think was _thank you_ repeatedly. He hadn't been clean in half a year. When the water came to his chest, it was turned off.

"Here, I'll help you sit up." Cid said. He pulled the boy forward. X tried to remain sitting up. It was difficult. He started to cry again. The sensations surrounding him were dulled by the shooting pains running through his nerves.

"Who are you?" Cid asked.

"I … my name is Project X," he stated.

"I mean, who were you before?" X looked at the man. Cid's expression was soft, the lines of his forehead not as deep.

"I don't know," X replied.

"What have they done to you?" Cid asked. He grabbed a cup and filled it, spilling over X's blond hair.

"Hurt."

"How?" He continued pouring water.

"No food. No water. Hitting and screaming. Throwing." X could hardly speak. His throat was sore from screaming for so long. Cid removed his gloves and ran a thick soap through X's hair.

"Why?"

"I don't—" X coughed horribly, blood splattering out. Cid ran some fresh water and let X drink from the tube. "I don't know," he continued. "They just … look at me and ask me to do things. Things like running, fighting, or using magic."

Cid rinsed water through the soapy hair, cleaning out all the dirt. "It's unnatural for one to innately use magic. It is a very rare gift."

"Why me …?" X asked once his hair was thoroughly cleaned. He tried hard to remember life before this place. It was like memory hit a brick wall, locking him out.

"I don't know … I'm going to clean your body, is that okay?" Cid asked. X felt odd being asked a question. He was used to brute force by now. He remained silent, crying slightly. Cid drained the dirty water and replaced it again, adding soap. He ran a cloth over X's body, cleaning everywhere. X didn't even feel embarrassed when Cid cleaned his private areas. X was having a hard time feeling anything but sorrow or pain.

"What did you do to me?" X asked. Cid stopped his second run through to look at the boy, sternly.

"I did what I was ordered to do. I'm going to take a blood sample now that you're clean, okay? It'll hurt for a second." Cid collected a small vial of blood using a syringe.

"I promise that what I did to you will never happen again," Cid explained. X looked at him warily.

"How can I believe you?"

"You'll just have to," Cid answered. He helped X stand. The boy felt very weak but clean for the first time in half a year. He could walk slowly. Cid helped him dress, one limb at a time into loose, cotton clothes.

"I don't know what they are going to do after this. All I know is I will have to monitor it all. I truly am sorry this is happening to you. But whatever they do, it will not be pleasant." Cid helped X out of the lab and into another stone hallway, lit by periodic torches in the wall.

"Where are you taking me? I don't know this hall." X looked around, straining to remember if he knew where this all led.

"Just over here, near my lab. It will be your new room," Cid told him.

The new cell had a steel, barred door. It slid open with a grating sound. Cid led X to a cot fastened to the wall. It was softer than the straw he was used to. A seat with a hole in it was adjoined to the opposite wall, probably leading to the outside.

"You have to survive, Project X. Remember, you can't give up." Cid gave the boy a folded gray blanket from beneath the cot. It was thin, but soft.

"What if I want to die?" X asked, fresh tears forming.

"You must remember who you are," the older man said. X looked at the smooth walls of the room. All he could remember was the faces of a woman and man. Not what they looked like, just faces.

"There's only two people. Two people, and Tor and Aven—"

"Shush. Try not to say his name. You shouldn't even know him," Cid admonished. And as if being summoned, Aven rounded into the hallway.

"What have you done!?" Aven screamed. His black hair dangled in front of his bright, steel-gray eyes. He moved it aside. They were full of anger.

"Now, young sir, I only followed your father's or—"

"I don't care about my father! What have you done to X?" Aven yelled.

X got to his feet and wobbled in place. He took a simple step forward and tumbled to the ground with a groan. Aven pushed Cid out of the way and rushed into the cell to help X up. They got him situated onto the cot.

"He's never been this weak before! And now he lives in your personal block? I want answers!" Prince Aven barked. X felt his head being turned with a small hand. Aven forced X to look at him. Aven was pale, usually. But right now, his cheeks flushed with ire.

"Your Highness, I must say you are very assertive for being only fifteen years of—"

"Does it look like I even care? He's hurt! Help him! And that's a royal order!" Aven commanded. Cid sighed and pulled a flask from one of his pouches. It was labeled as an elixir.

"This will ease his pain," Cid explained. Aven snatched it from him and removed the cork. He gently held it to X's lips. X felt his entire body ease as the elixir's magic rushed through his body. He slumped back against the smooth stone.

"Cid, go. I want to spend time with him," Aven ordered.

"You know if you get caught …"

"This is the block of the emperor's scientist. Very few people can access this."

"And who let you in?" Cid asked, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows.

"Who else?" Aven offhandedly replied. Cid actually laughed snappishly.

"I should have figured. I'll go lock the entrance. You have an hour." Cid walked off down the hall. Aven fixed his royal black and purple tunic before removing his long, hooded cloak. The cloak was black and rimmed with purple. He sat next to X.

"Why are you here?" X asked.

"I'm furious! When Tor told me you were being experimented on by Cid, I ran straight here. He also gave me a key for this block …" Aven smiled devilishly while holding up a bronze key.

"And since this is a private block, I can come see you more easily," Aven said. X smiled on the inside.

"That's good. Will they visit, too?" X asked.

"Tor and Celes? Yeah, they should at least. I'd be angry if they didn't," Aven said with a smile.

"I think you're always angry," X feebly said.

"God, what have they done to you this time …" Aven said with a frown.

"Pain …" X said dryly.

"You have never been much of a talker," Aven joked. X stared out the bars and into the flickering hall.

"Maybe I was like that before this place …" X said.

"I wonder what you would be like if you smiled or laughed or … anything, really." Aven looked around the room.

"I hate my father and what he does to people," the prince said. He punched his pale, bony fist into the cot. X just looked stoically at him.

"What gives him the right to experiment on living people!? Just because he's the damn emperor! I hate him!" He punched the cot again, harder this time "Look what they've done to you!"

"I'm no one," X told him bluntly.

"Not to me! You saved me, remember?"

"When?"

"When you first arrived, about six months ago. I wasn't wearing my royal garb, and so some soldier was hitting me, beating me. You … you know I can't fight, and I'm too afraid to use my own magic. But you just broke from the ranks of the other prisoners and just stopped him. You threw fire at him from your hands and saved me. But …" Aven trailed off, afraid to continue. His hands clenched and unclenched on his legs. He brought his knees up to rest his chin on. A tear formed in his right eye.

"Then they took me by myself," X continued.

"Yeah, because you could use magic. And now you're just another horrid experiment!" Aven cried out. "People aren't things to play with. I hate my father. I'll make him pay, I swear. I mean, you're my age! What gives him—"

A door at the end of the block opened and shut. Footsteps calmly approached until a figure stood before them. A man in his early twenties with dark brown hair and deep, forest green eyes opened the cell door the rest of the way and leaned against the wall. A custom-made, extra-long masamune rested on his back.

"Oh, hey Tor," Aven said. X lay down the rest of the way onto the cot, the pain still throbbing in his body. His thoughts wavered here and there. _What did Cid put into me?_ The images of the swirling darkness played in his mind.

Tor stared down at them, examining them like objects. He let out a long breath.

"I'm sorry, X …" he said.

"Why?"

"I …" Tor stopped. X thought that Tor wasn't expecting that question. Or maybe Tor just didn't want to give an answer. Tor walked to face them fully. On his uniform was his ranking. X didn't know it. He just knew Tor was really important, really deadly, and really efficient.

"What did they do to him?" Aven asked. "What did they do, bro?"

"I'm not your actual brother, Aven," Tor corrected.

"You care for me. You, X, and Sis are all I have …" Aven said bitterly. He looked away quickly. Tor sighed and crouched in front of them.

"And if your father knew that—"

"I don't give a damn about my father!" Aven shouted, fire leaping from his fingers, while an Aero spell exploded around him. X felt his heart twinge. For six months they had observed him and kept him prisoner. He didn't even remember who he was anymore. But how long had Aven lived this way, in some shadow of a monster he did not want to be?

"Why does everyone always bring him up …" Aven asked glumly. His head drooped and he ran his fingers through his black, lengthy hair.

"Because he's the emperor. And even _you_ have to keep him happy," Tor said. X groaned in pain, holding his chest. He felt like his body was turning inside out, the flesh crawling away from his bones.

"Tor, what did they do to him?" Aven asked again.

"I really don't know."

X curled up, feeling Aven's hand on his shoulder. The crawling intensified, ripping apart from his muscles. Fire surged through him, and he yelled into the stones. Tor stood up and peeked his head out of the cell.

"Aven, you have to go. They'll be coming for him soon," Tor said.

"I …" X screamed again in agony.

"Come on, we can visit him later. You can't be found here. Go spend time in the courtyards. I'll come see you soon," Tor explained. He placed a hand on his sword and walked out of the cell and down the hall.

"Hurry."

X's head rested on a small pillow up against the bars of the cell. Aven stood up and left, sliding the door shut. The metal clanged as it locked into place. X twisted his head and looked up at Aven. Aven knelt down to his level and put a hand through the bars. X reached out and took it. They remained there, hands locked for a few moments. Aven's face locked into determination; he swallowed hard, and squeezed X's rough hand.

"I promise things will be right one day. For you and everyone else. I promise I'll help you," Aven said through sloppy tears. Through the pain, X felt warmth glow from Aven's hand.

"Prince! Hurry!" Tor shouted. X nodded at Aven and let go reluctantly. Aven grabbed his black cloak and wrapped it roughly around him before walking quickly down the hall. He and Tor exited, leaving X all alone in the flickering torchlight.

Every part of him hurt, burned, screamed for release. But the intensity only grew and grew. He screamed for what seemed like hours.

 _Darkness swirling, swirling, twisting, infusing …_

 _~THW~_

"Go to the courtyards for now, Doavar will want you to study. I have to go and get ready for my duties …" Tor said. He looked down at what he considered to be a younger brother. Aven just stared at the large metallic door that led to Cid's block. Tor gently rubbed the boy's shoulder.

"Go now, before Gabranth sees you," Tor urged. Aven nodded, pulling his dark amethyst hood up, and strutting off through the main hall. Tor rounded on his heel in the opposite direction.

"What gives you the right to tell the prince what to do?" barked a feminine voice.

"I wasn't ordering him, Celes," Tor replied. He turned to his left to see his adoptive sister leaning against a pillar of the grand hall. Her arms were crossed over her breastplate. Her armor was magnificent and shining, wrought by the last dwarven societies of the Northern Vale Rift. The metal was highlighted with icy blue.

She waved her long blond hair from her round face. "It sounded like ordering to me."

"Would you prefer that he be caught visiting X again?"

"No, but you have no right to order him around," she said coolly. Tor shifted his weight.

"What have you got up your ass this time?" Tor was quick to the point.

"Do you even care about what they're going to do to X?" Celes asked, walking towards him.

"Of course I do! Why must you pretend like I have no heart?" he spat back.

"Because all I've known the past five years is a brother that cares for nothing but himself." She was within inches of him. He felt the air grow colder in her presence.

"I couldn't tell Aven about X. I can't tell him what they're going to do … what they've already done," Tor explained.

"And let Aven live in the darkness he fights so painstakingly to escape?" Her volume increased slightly. She stamped a foot in annoyance.

"It's best if he doesn't know, Celes!" Tor shouted.

"Oh, no, don't pretend any longer. All you ever care about is doing Mateus' and Argovaron's bidding like the bitch of a lapdog you are," she snapped. Tor felt his blood simmer, but he held back any sort of retaliation. For years he had learned not to play into her hate.

"Celes, I do what's best for my empire, for all of I'ltorien," he stated.

"No, you only care for yourself! You didn't go through what the other experiments did!" she nearly screamed. She uncuffed her arm and rolled her sleeve up. The number 18 was tattooed there.

"I know, Celes, that I did not go through the Pits. I know I did not go through any experiments, I—"

"And yet you still rank up through the system faster than you deserve. Life was given to you on a silver platter and you didn't even hesitate to ask for seconds while the rest of us fought or died to be where we're at!"

In her shouting, icy shards thrusted from her feet, skidding along the smooth flagstones of the hall. This was the reason she had always hated him. He had been chosen to bypass the Magitek Training and live an easier life. It was this guilt that latched onto the sinews of his body, that writhed in his mind. He had watched all those years as she was experimented on, tortured, as she killed to move on …

"Celes … I'm sorry for—"

"Enough, Tor. You may be my family, but I will never forgive you. And now that the same things are happening to X …" She paused and looked at her arm before putting her gauntlet back on. "You left me behind … don't you dare leave him behind. Me, you, and X. Aven loves all of us. If you forsake X like you did me, Aven will never forgive you just like I cannot."

"Celes, I never chose to leave you behind!" he shouted.

"It's because of you that King is gone … and you never tried to help me. Don't fail Aven or X, or you will pay …" Celes stormed off, her boots clacking loudly on the stone. Tor was left frozen, the words she said ripping inside his heart.

He walked off to his quarters, reliving memories of the past years.

 _~THW~_

Aven sat in the grass of the courtyard. Cool winds from the ocean blew over the citadel's walls. The capital city was situated less than a league from the Northern Vast, a massive ocean that led to mysterious lands. The citadel overlooked the city from atop a small cliff, rocky shores only a few hundred feet below. The city sprawled down until the slums and poor districts and finally the wall that surrounded it all. Avéladré, and the hill the city was built upon, had been his home and prison.

Behind him, the Soul Tower loomed. Built hundreds of eras ago by the mixed races of I'ltorien, it stood to the ravages of time. It was originally home to a god named Anuwëy, the deity that watched over the hearts of all things. The Soul Tower was built with strands of souls, from his children that died, any human or animal, plant or demon, he would build his tower with their souls once they were gone.

His rival was Seltra, the god of death, and … Aven lost track of his thoughts, watching a soldier lead some slaves through the arches.

"Young Prince! Are you studying?" Aven turned to the snappish voice of his tutor, Doavar. The wind blew through the pages of his history book.

"Yes, Doavar," Aven offhandedly replied. His heart was still aching, thinking of what happened to X.

" _Master_ Doavar, to you. These studies are important! The history of I'ltorien is something all nobles must know. Who was it that slew the Goddess Seltra?" Doavar asked. The wrinkles of his face contorted into a piercing gaze, the white wisps of what hair he had left blew gently.

"Um, Numeanor?" Aven replied.

"Incorrect, young master. This you should know. It was our very own Argovaron, your father's advisor and trusted friend," Doavar explained.

"But, how? She died over a thousand years ago?"

"There are theories as to how Argovaron cannot age. He has never told anyone, but I can tell you this." He leaned in close to Aven and his raspy voice whittled to a whisper. "No one should cross Argovaron. Not even the Black Four."

"Why?" Aven asked.

"I've only seen it once, but he possesses the abilities of the legends of the Soul Knights, personal champions of Anuwëy that sacrificed something very important to them to help stop Seltra and her army."

"What … what did he sacrifice?"

"No one knows," Master Doavar said. "But he's the oldest living human in this world, and assuredly one of the most deadly beings among us. Remember that when you study of the old eras. Now back to it!" Doavar slapped his leg, causing Aven to flinch. He shook his head and looked back to _I'ltorien Vol. II: The Beginnings and Ends of Seltra and Anuwëy_. He flipped back to where he was and continued to read.

Midway through the creation of the Obsidian Tower, Aven heard shouting.

"Get back in line!"

Aven looked up and saw a soldier shouting at one of the slaves that had broken the formation. It was a young girl of about nine or ten years. She had green hair, clumped with dirt and oils. She screamed as the metal cuffs cut into her wrists and ankles. Chains connected the two sets of manacles, rattling wildly.

"Someone grab the bitch and throw her into the line!" the captain at the front ordered. One of the rank-and-file grunts shuffled over and grabbed her by the arm. She squealed and pulled away, stumbling backward into the dirt. It was causing quite the scene.

"Master Aven, please focus on your work," Doavar mumbled. Aven ignored him, feeling that same anger he had always known shift through him.

"C'mere, girl," another soldier said. She shimmied away and tripped, out of his reach. She screamed more.

"No! Get back, you putrid male." The vocabulary did not match the age, was Aven's first thought. "Back!"

The soldier lifted her writhing body from the ground. She shook enough to fall from his grasp back into the grass. The man growled deeply, walked forward, started to drag her. She kicked at his hand as best she could and wriggled free again.

"Oh, for Soul's sake," the captain shouted. He walked briskly back to the girl and backhanded her hard enough to send blood onto the green grass. She cried out. He picked her up and hit her again.

"Stop!" Aven screamed, running to the scene. He had had enough. Hate flurried through him like a snowstorm. His hands balled into fists and his cloak billowed behind him in his stride.

"Nudge off, boy," the captain said without looking.

"I said let her go," Aven ordered. Without looking the captain beat Aven's face with the back of his gauntlet. Drops of blood coated Aven's tongue. Blood dripped from the girl's lips and eyebrow. She was crying.

"I said to _let her go!_ " Aven shouted with all his force. The captain dropped the girl and kicked her away. He reached for his sword and turned towards Aven.

"You're going to learn a lesson, boy, tr—"

Aven thrust his open hands out and shut his eyes. In an instance the captain was engulfed with flames. The metal surrounding his body seared into the flesh, acting as a cauldron to boil the man. He screamed ferally in the courtyard. Aven waved his hands and a gush of wind knocked the high-ranking soldier down, and then he threw the man into the stone walls where more flames erupted. The man fell there, convulsing on the ground until he burned to death.

The rest of the soldiers stood still, hands on their weapons. They didn't dare draw them. Unlike the captain, they saw who this was. Aven felt sweat drip down his back. His knees were wobbly. He crashed into the grass, looking at his shaking hands.

"Prince Aven!" Doavar shouted, feebly running to him. Aven crawled over to the girl and used the last of his energy to cure her wounds. He fell over next to her.

"Doavar … unchain her, now," Aven breathed. Doavar nodded and ordered the guard at the back of the line to come forward.

"Do as the prince says, unchain the little girl," Doavar ordered, his own voice shaking. The guard fumbled with the keys and then unlocked her. She crawled instantly to Aven.

"Take us to my chambers," Aven ordered. Doavar went to help Aven up, but then Aven saw a shadow loom over.

"I will take care of this, Grandmaster Doavar."

Aven looked up into the helm of one of the Black Four. A stark white _I_ was emblazoned onto his black breastplate. It was Gabranth, the leader of the Black Four, the Judge Magisters of the emperor. He picked up Aven and the girl like they were paper, shouldered them, and walked off.

"Your father will not like to hear of this," Gabranth said through the metal of his horned helmet.

"I don't care, just don't …" But before Aven could finish, he passed out from his body's exhaustion.

 _~THW~_

X woke up about an hour after Aven had left. His body was still throbbing in intense pain. His cell door slammed open. He blinked wearily and looked at the large person at his door. It was one of the Black Four. X knew of them. This one was number _IV_.

"Why are you here?" X asked weakly.

"I'm taking you to the Pits," she replied sternly.

* * *

 ** _Post Author's Note_**

 _Yes, welcome to why this is rated T. Do I understand that some people will leave because of this? Yes, I do. Do I care? No._

 _I'ltorien is a dark world, full of gritty realism and painful life. It is true to the core of what life is, especially in a fantasy setting. So, with two chapters down, I hope you're starting to see what kind of story you're getting yourselves into. I also made I'ltorien a bit simpler for the sake of this fan fiction. I won't get into all of its intricacies._

 _So, please tell me about X, Aven, Tor, Celes, everyone! I'm VERY curious to hear everyone's thoughts about this world and its characters._

 _Until next time!_

~TorNathan


	3. Briefings and New Allies

_**Author's Note**_

 _I'm finally back with a new chapter! I know, I know, I'm terrible. But I had finals at university and a really hectic week afterward of moving back and going to the hospital because of my surgery and all sorts of stuff. But, life is settling down now, so expect some more frequent updates. I'm also writing another story on this site, but I'll get into that after the chapter is over. We also get a new style of section break starting in this very chapter, woo!_

 _So, enough waiting. Go read this baby and leave me a review with all your thoughts. Your words are very helpful in the creation of this story! I will see you all very soon!_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter III**

 **Briefings and New Allies**

Sora walked through the metallic hallways of the _Highwind_. It was massive on the inside because of gummi block magic. The metal of the floor was cold against his bare feet. They had been flying through space for a couple days now, mostly catching up and sharing stories. They should be arriving at Radiant Garden soon, and the thought of visiting his old friends made him smile. As he approached the common area, he smelled wafts of cooking food. His stomach growled in response, and he began to run, his feet thudding into the floor.

He slid into the kitchen abruptly, his plaid pajamas flapping. His friends were sitting around the table in the center of the kitchen, eating breakfast. He sat on the open stool next to King Mickey.

"Oho! Mornin' Sora," Mickey greeted happily. He cut some eggs, flooding his food with yellow. "Did you _just_ wake up?"

Kairi snickered at Sora, pointing to his hair. It was a tangled mess of brown. "Hey! I haven't showered yet," Sora responded indignantly. Kairi laughed a bit more, covering her mouth.

"Here ya go, Sora," Goofy said, plodding over and sitting a plate of food in front of the boy. Sora's cerulean eyes lit up.

"Ah! My favorites!" Sora exclaimed, forgetting his embarrassment. French toast with peanut butter and side of scrambled eggs with hot sauce. "Goofy, I missed your cooking." The teen ravenously devoured his food, silverware clinking loudly, finishing it within a few minutes. He let out a burp—much to everyone's disgusted amusement—and stretched, then yawned in delight.

"Geez, Sora, maybe you should try cooking your own—"

"No!" Donald and Goofy shouted together. "Not again!"

"Wait, what happened?" Riku asked, drinking some coffee. Sora went to stop the two, tackling Goofy to the ground.

"He set the kitchen on fire with a Fira spell because the oven was 'too slow' for him," Donald explained angrily, ruffling his tail feathers.

"Hey, that _totally_ wasn't my fault! Besides, your feathers were _everywhere_ on this ship," Sora shouted back at the duck as he stood up. Donald just rolled his eyes. Kairi and Riku both smirked, trying to contain their laughter.

As people finished their breakfast—and Sora completed his seconds—Mickey magically animated the dishes, having them clean themselves. The broom in the corner and rags also came to life to begin cleaning. Bubbles sparkled and floated around. Everyone but Sora left, who was entranced by the magic. The broom angrily swatted at Sora, forcing him to leave so they could clean. He shuffled out quickly and into the warm common room.

Kairi and Riku were sitting on far ends of the couch. Sora plopped between them and laid his head in Riku's lap and threw his feet out over Kairi. They both just sighed, and didn't even try to fight it. He dug out the remote from within the bowels of the couch and wiped dirt off it, snapped it at the television, and turned it on. Some comedy about a young magician who turned people into cats was playing.

"Attention all passengers! You will be arriving to your destination within one hour." The automated voice cut in and out seamlessly.

"I can't wait to see my friends!" Sora shouted, thrusting his fists out. Riku barely dodged one. Sora blinked a few times and whipped his head back to look up at Riku. "Oh, I mean, my friends other than you guys."

"Go on, dork, go shower before they question who you are anymore," Riku said. Sora stuck his tongue out before rolling off his friends and running back to his bedroom. The door _swooshed_ and he was already leaving his pajamas and underwear on the floor with his other clothes.

 _"You're a mess, you know that, right?"_ Roxas said, disgusted.

 _"So?"_

 _"Try taking care of yourself for once. Clean something, do something."_

 _"Why, though? It's just clothes,"_ Sora responded. He turned the metal dials and water jetted out. The shower was hot and steaming. He stepped in and sang out loud like character out of Wonderland.

 _"Sora …"_

 _"Hmm?"_ Sora wondered.

Silence answered him. He stopped for a moment, concerned, but let it go. He was too excited to worry right now. As the _Highwind_ plummeted to the world like a heavy drop of rain, Sora finished his shower, dressed in his favorite adventuring clothes, and left his cozy bedroom. He half-jogged through the halls, his fingertips grazing the metallic walls. He fluidly slid on magic into the common room, where the rest of his friends were gather.

Kairi stood staring out of a window down at Radiant Garden. In the reflection, he saw her violet eyes grow with wonder. He bounded up behind her and took in the scene as well. The sprawling city of Radiant Garden had grown since he last saw it. Down the hills from the marketplace, a large residential district was forming.

"We've needed more room for people who've lost their worlds," Mickey said from behind him. He turned around.

"What else has changed?"

"The castle is being renovated, and we've built a large travel port. Maleficent's break on the world order has caused travel between the worlds to become more common, and much easier. So now we have a large hangar," Mickey explained. Sora scratched his head.

"So has everything become common knowledge?" Riku asked.

"Basically," Mickey replied. "But it's still hard for people to accept. Listen, there's more to discuss, but not right now. Take today to have some fun and catch up with your friends, guys."

Sora, Riku, and Kairi all nodded. The ship was landing, thrusters softening the impact. Amidst the shaking, Kairi stumbled, falling into Sora. He caught her, his hands wrapping around her. He blushed softly, helping her back upright and letting go.

"Thanks, Sora," Kairi said with a smile. He smiled and tried not to stare at her eyes.

"No prob, Kai."

The _Highwind_ landed with a thud, jarring everyone on their feet. They walked into the boarding room as the ramp descended from the ship. Warm, fresh air rushed in, blasting Sora's damp hair back. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy led them out and into some cheerful shouting. The second Sora's foot had hit some pavement, a small, excitable body crashed into him, squeezing the breath out of him.

"Sora!" He nearly toppled over as Yuffie hugged him tightly. She smelled like gunpowder and steel, laced with vanilla. He hugged her in return, the two of them teeter-tottering in place, spinning slowly.

"I missed you, Yuffie!" he exclaimed. After another couple moments, Yuffie let go and immediately clamped onto Kairi. Sora laughed as Leon approached. He ran and hugged Leon.

"Hah, hey there, Sora," he said, returning the hug very briefly and letting go, fixing his bomber jacket. Aerith, Cid, and Merlin all walked out from the back of Merlin's house. It had grown in size, adding on a few stories. The back lot was conveniently large enough for the _Highwind_ to stay where it was. Sora reunited with all of his friends. Yuffie was begging Riku to spar with her, Kairi and Aerith were talking about Radiant Garden, and Cid was arguing with Merlin about something Sora wasn't understanding. Cloud just stood in the doorway, silently watching them all.

"I swear, Cid, do _not_ make me turn you into a p-p-penguin again, by my beard!" Merlin shouted. Cid gruffed and waved him off, heading back into the house. Merlin waved his wand a bolt of blue energy followed Cid. A loud _squawk_ came from in the house. Sora gasped in surprise. Cloud rolled his eyes while Yuffie snickered. Sora chuckled, scratching his chest and looking around. He was happy to be back. Friends had become a necessary part of him, his power and happiness, and it was good to be surrounded by those exact things. Friends were powerful, and he felt as powerful as ever.

King Mickey cast a loud noisy magic to quiet everyone down, sparks of fire and metal fizzling out of existence. Yuffie jumped and clung onto Sora's back. He held her and listened to the mouse.

"Okay everyone! The plan is we'll have a meetin' tomorrow. I need to get back to the castle tonight and grab some things. Until then, just have fun and relax." Mickey's announcement was met with positive energy, Yuffie screaming—much to Sora's ear's demise—about a movie night. Sora argued that he wanted to practice fighting them to get ready for another adventure.

"But what about Kairi? She doesn't have much experience! She can't handle us," Yuffie said.

"Which is why we should traaaain," Sora mewled. He summoned his Keyblade and arced it in a throw at Cloud. He merely sidestepped it, letting it clang into the pavement in a shower of light. Sora summoned it back.

"C'mon Sora," Kairi said, brushing her hair back over her shoulder. "We should take one last night to relax." Sora looked at her, puffing his smooth cheeks and drooping his eyes into a pout. She smirked and shook her head in defiance.

"Aw geez, Kairi, fine," he said, dismissing his weapon.

"So, Yuffie, can you tell us about what all has changed?"

The trio of islanders were ushered into Merlin's house one by one after the others. Donald and Goofy followed in last. The _Highwind's_ thrusters kicked the ship off the ground, blasting them all with hot air. It shuttled off into space. They gathered in the new, large living room, all taking different seats. Yuffie's small and soft frame landed in Sora's lap, and she leaned back into him. And for the next couple hours, they all caught up, chatted and exchanged stories, and explained all the changes to happen to Radiant Garden.

Sora was at his home away from home, and it felt so good in his heart of hearts, that he began to cry.

 _ **~-~-~-~-~-**_  
 _ **THW  
~-~-~-~-~-**_

About a week ago, in a world far away from Radiant Garden, a girl named Merideth sat very still in a wooden chair, watching a curtain flap in a weak wind seeping in through the shattered window of the old cottage she was in. Mindless, emotionless, she stared at the dark red velvet of the curtain. Next to the window was a table with a glass container, pristine, out of place in this wreck of a home. Inside was half of her heart, swirling in light slowly, dancing, twirling, emanating the things she could not feel anymore.

He walked out from behind her, heeled boots _clocking_ into the aged wood of the floor. He knelt in front of her, looking into her blank, dark green eyes. He bit the inside of his cheek and smiled.

"Merideth, who am I?" he asked, his voice oily and smooth, deep and dark.

"Master," she responded simply.

"Good. You serve me. And who do I ally myself with?"

"Maleficent, and her other allies," she said.

"Yes. And who do _I_ really serve, Merideth?" he asked, taking her hand. She felt his lineless hand smoothly graze over hers. His dark eyes penetrated her, and she felt ice sink through her, her breath catching sort. He brushed her soft blonde hair from her cheek, his skin lingering against her own.

"You serve the Crimson King."

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As Merideth's Master stroked her cheek, far away in the World That Never Was Alexia was getting ready to attend the grand meeting. She brushed her silver, shoulder-length hair in her small bedroom. The room was void of many belongings. She had some clothes in a corner, along with her naginata and black cloak. Her simple brown pants and dark, blue shirt were enough to keep her warm in this cold castle. She laced up some black, worn boots and rose from the bed. She walked to her stuff and readied the cloak around her neck. The long fabric draped and kissed the back of her heels.

Her hands shook from anxiety. She moved the hair from over her right eye, and felt the scar that ran down from her forehead to the middle of her cheek. Tears slowly filtered out of her, and then those tears became retching sobs, uncontrollable in their creation.

"Mom … why aren't you here?" she called out to the empty room. She smashed her fist into the wall and a flare of fire and energy charred the steel. She slumped to her knees and held her wet face in her hands.

"Why are you all gone?"

She knelt there for a while, ruminating on her past, feeling the phantom pains of her long-gone family. Minutes later, she grabbed her belongings and ascended the castle. Her outlined mission—which she had spent the last days going over and over in her rattled brain—was simple: gain the trust of Maleficent's enemies. Be one of them, and be Maleficent's spy. She thought back to the past few weeks she had spent here, when she had met Maleficent.

 _"I can bring them back, you know," she had said in her icy, shallow voice. Her cloaked arm cradled a broken, lonely Alexia._

 _"R-really?" she croaked in the desert. Mirages of her family danced before her, then they dissolved into watery silhouettes, fading forever away._

Fast forward to now, and she was fighting with new resolve. But how could this witch bring back the dead? How could she reverse years of failure and misery? How could she fix things that had always been broken, both inside Alexia's soul and memories?

She could fix it with Kingdom Hearts.  
Partway through the meeting, she slashed a rift of darkness into being, and walked the lines between worlds, as lonely as she had always been. Fire burned passionately within her fractured heart.

"I'm coming mom … I promise I won't fail you this time."

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"Now, now, come here, m'boy," Merlin said to Sora the next day. Sora had just finished sparring in the back lot with Yuffie and Tifa. It had proven useful to fight both, one that uses close-range combat, and the other from afar. He wiped the sweat from his brow and happily followed Merlin up an uneven, winding staircase to the third floor. Kairi was already there, waiting for them. Merlin coughed, ruffling his long white beard. He knocked on the door in a syncopated manner and then oinked at it three times. A lock clicked on the other side and the door swung open.

Sora and Kairi followed him into a massive study, filled with huge piles of books, all pouring over each other as if heaps of dragon's hoard. Merlin hiked over them, slipping and flailing along the way. Sora and Kairi did the same, laughing as they slid down from the top of a particularly steep dune. They crashed into the foot of Merlin's desk.

"Watch it, watch it!" he snapped with a whistled voice. "Now, there's something I need to see."

Sora and Kairi glanced at each other, and then back to the elder wizard.

"I want to see your Nobodies," he said promptly. He raised his bushy eyebrows and crossed his thin arms over his chest.

"Well, Merlin, that's kinda up to them," Sora said. He scratched the side of his head and gave Kairi a sideways look.

"Yeah, we just can't make them appear," she added.

"Well, I assume they can hear me." Merlin waved a wand, and a lot of his books started shuffling along the corner of the room, cleaning themselves and filing away. Slowly, they revealed a large wardrobe, dusty and carved intricately.

"Roxas. Naminé. I need to see you, it's really important to my studies." The wardrobe waddled over to the three of them. Sora ran his fingers through his messy hair, studying the cabinet as if expecting a large Heartless to escape from it. Suddenly, the familiar auras of blue and gold erupted from the teens' chests. Then, a ghostly image of Roxas and Naminé appeared, standing in front of their Somebodies. Sora could glimpse Merlin through Roxas. As if Roxas could sense this, he turned and scowled at Sora, before Merlin's voice pulled everyone's attention.

"Hmm, interesting," he said moving a hand through Roxas. He glared at the old wizard, but held his tongue. "I-I-I do believe I have an idea."

The codgy wizard shuffled over to the wardrobe and chanted, releasing a magical lock off the handles. In a burst of billowing dust, the doors snapped open, and the twinkling of light appeared, like stars in a sky. All four of the teens peered in, and noticed hundreds of different keychains hanging or piled in the cabinet. Sora's eyes went wide with wonder.

"Merlin, are all those …"

"Yes, mhm, they are indeed Keychains for blades. I've been around a long time, sonny," he said, as he shifted through them. "And I have collected the remnants of the Great Keyblade War, and the splitting of the worlds. All of these have lost their masters, and yearn for a new one."

Kairi walked to the other side of Merlin and knelt down, studying each pinprick of light and metal. Then she looked to her other half, and her petite lips turned down in concern.

"But what does this have to do with Naminé and Roxas?"

"Why, it has a lot to do with them, Kairi. When they merged with you, they lost their ability to wield a Keyblade. Imagine, if you will, that their Keychains just merged into the hearts and souls of you and Sora," Merlin explained. He would rummage through the chains, hold one up uncomfortably close to his eyes, and then toss it back in. "However, if introduced to the _right_ Keychain, there might be a chance for something truly remarkable to happen!"

Roxas crossed his arms in impatience, his face bent into frustration. Naminé put her ethereal hand on his shoulder and spoke to him quietly. He merely turned back to Merlin, his expression a touch softer than before. Sora felt the anger that Roxas felt through their shared heart. He felt a pang of worry and care for his Nobody.

"Merlin, just help them. I want Roxas happy," Sora said, feeling the guilt pulse through his body. "Naminé, too."

"Aha!" Merlin exclaimed. "These ought to do the trick." He straightened up and turned to the images of Roxas and Naminé. In his left hand he held a small Keychain, one swirling with dark and light, the two powers clashing back and forth. In front of Naminé he held a Keychain with a single black feather that was emanating a dark glow, and she could hear the soft whispers of faded memories coming from it.

"Go on, take them," Merlin encouraged. The two looked at each other, and then reached out in unison. When their hands clamped around the keychains, their bodies burst into light. Sora flinched away from the brightness of it, his retinas burning. When he looked back, the Nobodies were still standing there, but completely whole.

"Dude! Roxas!" Sora shouted in glee. He went to thrust a fist through him, but met muscled flesh.

"Hey! That hurt," Roxas snapped. He threw up an arm and smacked Sora.

"Hey! What was that for?" Sora said with a small smile. He chuckled a little bit, and Roxas smiled, too.

"I think you just needed one," he replied. Through the heart he shared with Sora, he could feel happiness, and it was something he hadn't felt in a long time. He glanced over to Naminé. She was examining her pale arms and hands. Roxas hugged her, and she returned it.

"I knew it!" Merlin shouted. "Now, you can only be whole by the power of the Keyblade. When those chains, or the blades themselves are touching you, you should be whole. Remember that."

Roxas nodded before letting go of Naminé and reaching an open hand out. In a brilliant flash, he summoned a powerful Keyblade he had seen before.

"Serendipitous Duo …" he whispered, gazing at the name etched into the hilt.

"Two Become One …" Sora muttered. They looked at the curve of the blade, notched by darkness and swirling with light. It glimmered and fluctuated as the two battled back and forth for control.

"The Artist's Memories," Naminé said to their side. Her Keyblade was a simple brown shaft that ran about three and half feet in length. At the end, there were no teeth, but instead, multitudes of flowing colors that poured from holes in the shaft. They spurted for about eight inches before becoming nonexistent. She gave the blade a wave, and a long paint-stroke of blue remained for a few moments, then a burst of ice shattered forward into Merlin's study.

"Whoa! Naminé, that's so cool!" Sora shouted, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Kairi hugged her as they continued to examine the blade.

"Merlin …" Roxas said, dismissing his Keyblade. He hooked the chain to his belt to keep him whole. "How can I become my own person?" Sora felt the guilt return, worried that his Nobody may never be who he wants to be.

"Well, m'boy, the answer is I just do not know," Merlin said. Roxas huffed and turned to leave, blasting Aero spells to carve a path through the books. Torn pages and binding freely blew away from him as he left the study.

"It's been killing him," Sora said glumly, watching as the flittering pages settled around the study. He picked at a loose stitch in his jacket, thinking over the last year of having Roxas dwell within him. His heart panged as he felt Roxas use a surge of Gravira against something outside.

"He's a fierce spirit full of yearning," Naminé said softly, painting hands with white gloves with her Keyblade. The hands animated and drifted around, cleaning the mess Roxas had created. "All he's ever known is being nothing and no one, incomplete, or unwanted." She walked away, leaving the Somebodies with Merlin.

"Those two are in a unique bind, I'm afraid. Able to feel yet do nothing. Able to live, yet not experience. Able to exist, but not with meaning." Merlin sat solemnly in his chair while the gloved hands faded into wisps of smoke.

"And we can't do anything to fix this?" Kairi asked.

"No."

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"I'm telling you guys," Sora said, then burped loudly, "that Cid is one of the best cooks ever." The entire group sat around the main room of Merlin's house. Sora sat snuggly in the corner of a bed, leaning against Yuffie while his feet prodded into Cloud. He shoveled traditional ramen into his mouth with little care. Yuffie gave his head a hard knock as if trying to rattle his brains into mush. He winced and slowed his eating.

"Well, His Majesty just landed in the main hangar we built up the mountain," Leon called out after turning a transmission off. He waltzed into the main room, holding his own bowl of ramen, steam filtering up into his thin face. He passed Riku, who was pacing back and forth by the window, the light trickled through its dirty pane to illuminate him. His knuckles cracked and flexed, red then white then back to red. Sora could tell he was impatient.

"Riku, come sit and eat with us," Kairi said. She laid lazily on the bed, having already finished only a small bit of food. Sora reached out and stabbed her with his foot. She punched his leg and he giggled while slurping on noodles.

"No, I'm fine," he replied, stopping to look out the window, hoping to see any sign of Mickey through its opaque face.

"C'mon, Riku, everything is going to be fine," Yuffie called out. "Now get some food. Sora's right, Cid is great."

"I said I'm fine."

Sora nudged Yuffie and gave her a look that said, _"Just let it go."_ And she did. Sora understood what Riku was feeling. Right now, Maleficent was taking worlds one by one, forcing them into darkness while she kidnapped the Princesses. And if she was after them, she would surely be after Kairi, too. In that moment, amid the laughter from both himself and Kairi as they jabbed back and forth, he felt the presence of her pure heart, and knew he would do anything to protect it. He would not lose her, or Riku, again.

After finishing his second bowl, Sora poked Kairi again. "Hey, where are Roxas and Naminé? They should be here for this, right?" They shared a long look at each other then tried communicating to their Nobodies.

 _"Roxas, you should come here. King Mickey will be here soon."_

There was a long pause, but then the glow of Roxas' voice filled Sora's mind and heart. _"I know, I see him now. Naminé is also with me."_

Sora gave Kairi a quick nod. Roxas sounded calmer than before, but his voice was tinted with sadness still, like stained fabric. Tifa, Aerith, and Leon sat around an old wooden table, while Merlin and Cid bickered over something at the main computer. Sora felt this hidden tension in the air. Everyone knew the gravity of the upcoming adventure, but it was like they all wanted to pretend it wasn't there, like they were smothering it with a blanket, hoping it would die on its own.

But of course, that wasn't the case. Nothing was ever easy.

The door swung open like an unfurling wing, and in walked the King of Disney Castle. Sora was confused, however, when two young women followed in behind him. The girl on his right was, as good as Sora could put it, stoic. She stood there without any trace of wonder or fear, or anything at all. Her blonde hair curled down past her shoulders, and her bangs hardly covered her deep, dark green eyes. She wore a red skirt over black pants and matching boots. A white scarf wrapped around her neck and mouth, draping down over the red of her top. She blankly stared ahead, as if peering at a world no one else could glimpse. Her strong hands gripped a duffel bag in one hand and a complex, mechanized bow in another.

The other young woman looked troubled. Her face—the right side having been hidden by her silver hair—looked sad, far away, as if her mind was floating off into another world. The rich amethyst of her eye darted back and forth between each person. A dark, battered cloak wrapped around her blue shirt and brown pants. Her boots were worn away as if she had hiked a thousand mountains. A large naginata was strapped to her back. And yet, hiding behind this timid looking girl, Sora could feel the heat of the sun, a fiery determination lurking somewhere deep inside of her.

Sora was broken from his trance when Mickey began to address them.

"Oh, you're all here already! Good," he stated. Roxas and Naminé walked in behind them. Naminé sat in an empty chair by the door, and Roxas followed her, standing behind her, as if a shield against the world.

"So, first I want to introduce to you all some people I came across back home. Like most of you, they just arrived at the loss of their worlds. But in these two I felt something worth noting, and they wanted to help fight back against the things they lost. I want to welcome Merideth and Alexia." The mouse motioned to them respectively. Merideth nodded slightly to them all while Alexia just gave them a thorough glance.

"Cid, the map, if you will," Mickey called out. The old man hollered something unintelligible back before the lights went out and a device in the ceiling buzzed to life. Suddenly, a large three-dimensional projection of hundreds and hundreds of stars came into being. Each dot of light a different world. One of them highlighted and then focused in. A tag with the name _Radiant Garden_ appeared, showing the world zoomed in from all the others.

"Whoa …" Sora let out a long breath as he gazed in wonder at the technology. Yuffie slumped into him while they watched the world rotate slowly.

"As you all know, the Princesses of Hearts are starting to go missing. Not only that, but the worlds are disappearing, too, more and more by the day." King Mickey paced around the central table, then waved his hand. The projection zoomed out, then highlighted four worlds among the thousands.

"Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, my own Castle, and Destiny Islands have become the most frequent places for refugees to end up in. The World Order has been broken, and I believe it is time we all embrace this if we want to survive the oncoming storms."

"Wait, are you saying we forget the World Order?" Leon asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Mickey replied. He bowed his regal head and bent his face into concentration.

"But what about having kept it for so long?" Sora asked.

"Why should we protect something that is already being destroyed? We should embrace this one and simple fact: we need to work together, all people of all worlds, to fight Maleficent. She's out for war and Kingdom Hearts. And … and I'm afraid she might want total control."

The group all sat silently. Sora watched the worlds revolve slowly, and then focused his eyes on is home world, how refugees were spilling into it, just like Kairi did all those years ago. Conviction churned inside of him, ready to burst out like a tidal wave from the ocean of his heart.

"We need to protect the people, not some stupid rule," Sora said. He puffed his chest out and scrambled out of the bed, and he stood in front of them all, turning to each of them. "We need to stop Maleficent, for good this time! I'm tired of her ruining all the things I care about, I'm tired of her destroying everything I know. I want to end this!" Sora let a few tears slide down his face while his friends all looked at him with admiration. Even the two newcomers gazed at him with wonder.

"The kid's right," Cloud softly spoke. "It's time we end her tyranny."

"To bring hope to others again," Leon added.

"To heal all wounds she has wrought," said Aerith.

"To kick her butt and show her her place," Tifa said with a pumped fist.

"To free all beings from her dark magic," Merlin said gravely.

"To reconnect the worlds through all our gummi technology," Cid chimed in, busy at his computer.

"To stop the spread of darkness in the hearts of all," Riku said angrily, punching the wall.

"To restore our meaning," Naminé said, gripping Roxas' hand.

"To show people that they are worth something again," he answered back, squeezing her shoulder.

"For my sisters of light, for all the people who have not known the light, and those who need it most … we must do this." Kairi stood up next to Sora. He gazed at the determined and fierce faces of his loved ones, his friends. He flexed his hand, turning his knuckles white, and punched the air in a wild jump.

"For Kingdom Hearts!"

* * *

 _ **Post Author's Note**_

 _Okay! That chapter is done! A lot happened here, especially with some brief intros to new characters (old for you returning readers). If you noticed, there's a new significant difference to Merideth. So, whether you're new or old to this story, please tell me your thoughts about the new women to the cast!_

 _It's great writing all of this again! Also, check out my other story I'm co-writing with **Lucenthia**. It's Kingdom Hearts crossed with Dark Souls, so go check that out! It's really awesome! Also, go read "Disciples of Darkness" by **Lucenthia** , because that's a kickass story that I got to help plan some of the major stuff to!_

 _Anyway, I'm sorry again about the delay. Life hit me hard, but with the semester finally over, I'm going to try to update faster. Hopefully I'll see you all in a week or so. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's! Love you all!_

 _~TorNathan_


	4. Slaves and Gods

_**Author's Note**_

 _Okay, it has been far too long. I'm terribly sorry for this insane delay. Let me tell you all what's been happening. So, in general, college has hit me hard as it always does. Second, my spine surgery recovery gets in the way sometimes. Third and most importantly, some really tough stuff went down recently, and I miss someone very, very much. So, dealing with all that, I have been very slow to write this chapter._

 _But the wait is finally over! Here is chapter four! Celebrate! Yay!_

 _Enough is enough, go dig into this chapter and I'll see you afterward!_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter IV**

 **Slaves and Gods**

X weakly stared at Judge Magister IV as if waiting for her to say it was all a ruse, an elaborate, crafty lie. He had heard horror stories of the Pits. It was the harrowing, soulless place that all experiments ended up, and it seemed like it was finally his time to go. He looked at her and did not move a single beat, even the breathing of his chest slowing to a silent, defiant _no_.

IV sighed. "You can either listen to me, or I will take you there by force. And trust me … you want the energy you have now." Her armor was as black as the void, a matching cape reaching to the ground. On her back, tucked beneath the cape, was a folded weapon where her hand lightly gripped. She did not pull it, as if challenging X to test her patience. He decided against it and slowly moved towards her. The pain from the testing earlier lingered in his bones and simmered in his muscles. Every step was crackling electricity in his veins.

"Hurry it up, Project X," she snapped. He walked behind her, wincing at every thud of her boots clacking against the stones. They left Cid's block, and took a right. They passed out of the grand hall to a corridor to the south.

After some twists and turns, he heard it. There was shouting, cheering, uproars of very human voices. There was an explosion of cheers as they rounded a corner into a large amphitheater outside. His bare feet met the softness of grass and his face felt the soothing breath of the wind. X glimpsed a ball of smoke dissipate into the air as sparks rained upward. He saw grandstands in a large oval, like some sort of coliseum. What sounded like hundreds of people on the inside cheered and booed. He stood, fear and wonder mixing inside his heart. IV grabbed him by the arm and kicked him down a set of stairs nearby, heading underground.

"Once they are done in there," IV said, gesturing to a metal door on the far wall, "you will be next." She thrusted him to a wooden bench. He sat down, trying not to get a splinter, and avoided dark stains. A crazed scream came from within the amphitheater, followed by roars of applause. X stared at the metal gate, the line running down the middle, sealed shut. He begged for it to never open, begged for a way to just dream, to drift off from this world and into another one, one where he could cry on his own, and maybe just relax. But those sweet thoughts were ripped from him without care.

"In the Pits, you will fight for the right to live," she said to him. He snapped his head to her own and tried to see some part of humanity hiding behind the dark helm and its shadows, but found none. The only lights were from the door they came in from the stairs, and a red light above the locked doors. Around the room were various weapons, all coated in ancient, dry blood. He looked back to her.

"And if I fail?" X asked.

"Then you won't have to worry about the Pits ever again."

There was another explosion, one more visceral and fiery, and then nothing but cheering. From another door in this grungy waiting room came two soldiers. They wore aprons and gloves, all covered in mud, blood, and chunks of flesh. A buzzing that was so loud that it shook the bench X sat on was followed by the gate instantly opening, either half of the door zooming into the metal walls. The red light above the door switched to green. They entered the amphitheater, and came back, each one carrying a half of a boy no older than seventeen. Blood and guts spilled onto the floor, and X felt his stomach turn inside out. He looked away, tears hot and salty flooding from him.

"You're up next. You will not receive a weapon, nor will your opponent. You are under special ordinance, so says the Slavemaster." IV stood up and brought X to his feet. She shoved him towards the gate, his feet clumsily wading through blood and dirt. He stumbled into the broad daylight to thunderous applause.

Metal walls surrounded him in the oval, reaching twenty feet upward. The stands held soldiers, citizens, nobles, knights … a bit of everyone. In a special box in the center, furthest up, sat a man. He was shrouded in cloaks and wraps, and a hood hiding his face. Next to him was Cid, who looked down at X with pity and worry. Below the Slavemaster and Cid sat a man with a microphone.

"Next up, is a special bout for survival. We have one of the special experiments, Project X. And our other competitor is Subject #1643." The crowd roared loud enough to overpower the announcer's gritty voice. X stared ahead, watching the last competitor leave as a new one arrived. The doors on either side of the oval locked. In front of him was a man in nothing but rags, just like he used to be. This man had long, oily brown hair, reaching to his chest. A matted beard clung to his face, holding sweat. Scars littered his body, the skin taut over bulging muscles.

The middle-aged man wasted no time running straight for X. He threw a right hook at X's face. He dodged deftly and watched the older man stumble forward. X retreated a bit, stepping backward precariously. Subject #1643 turned, hazel eyes full of fear and anger. He growled and ran back and tackled X to the ground. X wriggled free from him, and got to his feet, circling around and then backing away again.

"Kill him already!" A woman shouted angrily down at the older man.

"Stop running away, you bitch!" shouted some noble, throwing coins at X. While Subject #1643 got to his feet, X waited, his feet positioned for another turn. The man barreled at him and faked a punch, going instead for X's waist. X was taken to the ground, the oxygen knocked from his lungs. He glanced up and only felt a fist hit his jaw, nearly breaking it. Stars danced in front of his eyes. The crowd screamed in euphoria. Flesh met flesh, and X had to spit out blood. It was then that the gravity of it all hit him, the reality of _live-or-die_ smacked him in the face.

"Aerora!" X shouted. A powerful rush of wind emanated from his body, throwing the man off of him. He scrambled to his feet and threw a Fira spell at him. The earth charred to black, and the man skittered back as the fire seared his hairs and flesh. He was up in a flash and rushing to X again. X tried to throw another Aero spell but was too exhausted from all the experimentation earlier that day. He was brought to the ground again. He twisted and turned but was met with a jab to the throat. Muscled, hairy hands gripped his neck, strangling him.

X's eyes looked up into the anger of this man, the pure hatred boiling from his pores. He lifted X's head and slammed it into the ground. He could not breathe, the world was darkening, fading in and out like a dream half-forming. A rock lay near him, and he tried to reach out for it.

"I will not die here!" the older man screamed, strangling harder. The world was slowly fizzling out. He reached and grazed the rock with the tips of his fingers. He latched onto it and bashed it into the side of Subject #1643's head. The man let go. Air rushed through X, crisp and burning. He coughed and hacked, regaining the little bit of consciousness he had been losing. The man lay next to him, dazed from the hit. X looked to the weapon in his hand and then at the man.

"I … I can't," he told himself. The crowd was deafening. He looked up to the Slavemaster and Cid. He knew his life was on the line. Sobs retched out of him, uncontrollable. The people held their hands to their mouths and screamed, they thrusted their fists into the air, they thirsted for the blood he did not want to draw. He looked down and gripped the rock so hard it bit through the skin of his fingertips, and his knuckles were ghostly white.

 _Why!?_ _Why does this have to happen?_ He heard the sickening crunch of rock meeting bone. The man fell under his own weight into a cloud of dirt.

 _I don't want to …_ And the rock snapped into the man's nose, the bridge between the eyes. And they watered with blood. X's own eyes drained with clear tears.

 _I'm so sorry …_ Crunch. Crunch. _Crunch_.

 _Please …_ With one final smash, the man's skull caved in. X fell to the ground, crying, the bloody rock tumbling from his shaking hand. The crowd was ecstatic, cheering on his gory display. IV walked out to retrieve his weak body and hoisted him onto her shoulder. Cleaners came out to retrieve the man's body, leaving the white slivers of skull and chunks of brain in the dust.

"The first time is always the hardest." Her voice shook through her armor and into his bones. He was quiet as he let himself cry his emotions dry. What was the price of a life? Would anyone know if lives were only taken without question, without hesitation?

But he _had_ hesitated, seeing fear, feeling it, too. But he took that life just the same.

Suddenly, while being carried, anger swelled within him violently, and he burst out in torrents of screams, echoes lashing off the walls. He felt inner darkness take a hold of him, chaining him to his own self, and as if a blindfold had been sewn to him, all things went black as he unleashed new rage. He thrust his fists against IV's armor.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!?"

It churned and bubbled, frothing like a mad beast. She ignored him and let him continue to flail. Blood sprayed off his white knuckles, the skin peeling away with every slam. He cried and yelled; it was all he could do anymore.

 _It's inside of me …_

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The bald man stood on the balcony looking over the Northern Vast. The ocean was a murky green, frothing and bashing wildly into the steep cliffside and jagged, teeth-like rocks below. He scratched his stubbled face with a ringed finger. His name was Argovaron, the emperor's right hand, advisor, and friend. He was also the savior of the nation, victor of a war from eras past. And like the bubbling ocean, those memories washed in and out of his mind, riptiding to the inner depths of his psyche.

His face held a jaded expression. The high winds snapped at the hem of his long, light cloak. It was white; ethereal and shadowy, wavering like smoke and water, and it was wide enough to enshroud his entire body. He wore a tight-fitting, black doublet that flowed out as it lengthened to his shins, a belt holding it in at his waist. He tapped the toes of his black boot in impatience. On his chest were two pins. One of them was the symbol of the emperor: a Yilgarian tree branch. And the second was of a textured, white oval, resting above his heart. The hilt of a broken sword was fixed at his thick belt.

"Where in Anuwëy's name is he?" Argovaron muttered, the shrill wind carrying his voice away from the throne room. This room was constructed at the base of the Soul Tower, for the top was too far into the sky. The songs of souls more ancient than he drifted through his ears, songs normal humans could never hear. They emanated from the very walls. And again the waves of his memories crashed into his mind, tearing at the shores, pulling a bit of sand away each time.

"Enough!" he screamed, casting a long arm out. An explosion of white fire, laced with blue and black, burst outward fifty feet from the balcony before transforming into rain that fell heavily into the ocean below. The doors of the throne room opened, creaking on ancient, heavy hinges. He turned and entered the room, circling around to the front of the throne. His bright, white cloak trailed wisps of smoke behind the black of his heels. He magicked the very thick curtains shut and snapped his fingers, and all the torches of the room went ablaze with light. An overhead brazier made of bronze filled with fire.

"Mateus," he said aloud. The emperor hardly gave him a glance before angrily strutting to his large, elevated Soulstone throne, sitting down and snapping his fingers. A door from his right opened and a servant dressed in rags scurried out, pouring Havian wine, white as bone into a goblet for the emperor. He took a healthy gulp before slamming it down on a small table next to him.

"Have you any news on her escape?" Mateus spat. He brushed his golden hair out of his soft, white face. Amethyst eyes penetrated into Argovaron.

"No, not yet, my lord," he answered. Mateus pounded a clenched fist down into the arm of the throne, purple, black, and gold flames scorching the seat.

"And why not!?" he screamed. A servant mopping the floor cowered from across the room.

"Because these things take time, and I'd rather have done it correctly than fail you." Argovaron walked to the side of the throne, his shimmering cloak seemingly weaving through the air like a still waterfall of snow.

"Do you think that I care? One of my strongest weapons has escaped! And if the blasted resistances across this nation find her before I do, they will think I am weak, that I have a weakness, that I am _penetrable_. I will not have it!" The room vibrated with the emperor's shouts.

"I assure you that the Harbingers will not be your downfall, Your Majesty." Argovaron had learned how to comfort the emperor. It was something you had to learn after millennia of consulting each one. "And you know that I do not lie."

"NO ONE!" Mateus shouted loud enough to shake the very curtains behind him. "No one will be my downfall!"

"I understand, Your Majesty. We will find Project Y, I assure you," Argovaron bowed slightly to the emperor, whose face was tinted red from anger.

"And you will find her before the Harbinger scum, or you will pay for it with your life." Mateus grit his teeth and spat to the side of the throne. The servant scurried over and cleaned it with a dirty, shredded rag before running back to his corner.

"Of course, Emperor Mateus," Argovaron said. His voice was as smooth as cream drizzled over bread, dripping with a tone of hardness that showed nothing but understanding.

"And where is my good for nothing son at?" Mateus said, drinking from his wine again.

"I sent Tor to go and fetch him from his room. The boy was exhausted from his outburst earlier."

"He's a weakling, just like his wench of a mother."

Argovaron's gaze lingered on Mateus. He rarely mentioned his wife since her death. Argovaron thought that maybe part of his resentment had grown from Aven, since his son was more of her than he himself.

"You must cut the boy some slack, he still hasn't learned to control—"

"You will not tell me what to do!" Mateus screamed. Argovaron held his gaze, and their eyes met, sparks flying between the two.

"As you wish."

 ** _~-~-~-~-~-_**  
 ** _THW_** _ **  
**_ ** _~-~-~-~-~-_**

"Why do I have to?" Aven asked bitterly.

"Because your father commands it," Tor replied. He strode down the halls towards the throne room, the young prince—and something akin to a younger brother—followed closely behind. "And what you did was foolish."

"They were hurting a little girl!" Aven shouted. People they passed pressed themselves flat to the stone walls, clutching their items to their chests, as if afraid Aven would roast them alive as well. Tor gave them no attention.

"That does not give you a reason to slaughter one of my lieutenants," Tor responded swiftly. "As a captain, I am under command of the ten commanders. I lead one hundred men, and those lieutenants help me. I am now a man short and your father is angry at both of us."

"Why do you lead such horrible people?"

"Because it is my job, and we _both_ know what happens if I don't do it properly."

"I know, bro …" Aven paused and picked at his tunic while they turned a corner. "I just hate it here. I hate all this cruelty."

"I know you do, but that's how things are. You have to play by these rules."

"Bullshit," Aven muttered and then turned his head away. Tor sighed and continued walking. _Aven's emotions and inability to control them will be his death one day._

"You will never grow out of that feisty attitude, will you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, Aven, it does. You're the prince of I'ltorien, and that means—"

"Oh to Seltra with the damn prince stuff! All I care about is helping the prisoners, you and Celes … and X."

Tor snapped around instantly and grabbed him by the arm, throwing a finger up and shushing the prince. "Do _not_ say those things out loud, Aven, do you understand me?"

"You know, grabbing me like this could lose you your head if the Four saw it," Aven said with a smirk.

"Watch it, Aven," Tor said, letting go. "I love you with every inch of my heart, but you must at least pretend to care about the rules, about how things work. For both of our sakes. And even X." Aven's face changed at that, and Tor knew he had picked the right string to pluck at. He gave Aven an understanding pat on the shoulder. They walked up to the doors to the throne room, large and looming in their metal mass.

"I talked to Argo, and nothing should be happening to you. Now, let's get this over with, okay?"

"Okay, big bro," Aven replied.

Tor opened the large doors and they slid smoothly over the shiny, granite floor. They entered the large, circular throne room, tiered rows of seats lined the walls on either side. There waited the emperor and his advisor at the elevated throne. In one corner was a door to a servant room, and in the other corner … was a young woman locked in glowing chains.

"Ah, Tor, thank you for bringing my worthless son to me," Mateus said. He rose from his seat and walked down the steps to the floor. They approached him.

"Aven, your love for the prisoners angers me," Mateus said firmly, but not loudly.

"It angers me that you torture and kill them," Aven retorted, his tongue as sharp as Tor's masamune.

"Watch yourself or you will become one of them," his father threatened. Tor watched as Aven just glared at him from beneath his black bangs.

"They were beating a little girl, and he hit me first," Aven answered.

"Oh? Well then, standing up for yourself as well? And I thought I was raising a girl all these years," Mateus smirked, clapping his hands together. The dirty servant brought more wine to him. He drank greedily, wiping a single drop the corner of his lush lips.

"I don't care that he hit me, I was saving her."

"And if she had disobeyed me, I would have killed her on the spot!" Mateus roared. Tor winced a bit, but Aven stood his ground. Tor thought it looked like a shadow standing up to the body that cast it upon the ground. Aven was too fierce sometimes.

"You're a monster," Aven spat.

"And yet I run an entire nation! I am the most powerful man to walk this world. Being ruthless will get you anywhere, where being nice will get you nothing but a sword through the heart!" Mateus gulped more wine.

"I would rather die fighting for what I believe in than fighting in vain for only power," Aven responded. Mateus looked down at him coldly before vanishing the goblet he held.

"You are too much like your bitch of a mother, her hair, her eyes, her face, and her soft, weak heart." Mateus gave Aven a sick smile. Tor continued to stand at attention next to Aven.

"Don't disgrace her like that, you worthless ass!" Aven screamed, blankets of fire scorching the ground around him. Tor sidestepped the flames. _Aven, control yourself!_ He watched his young friend clench his slim, bony fists at his side.

In the corner of the room, the girl stood up into the light, the magical chains rattling from her wrists. A tiara glimmered on her head, nestled into a mane of light green hair. Fire glowed from her palms. Mateus snapped a finger, and she sat back down.

"Not now, pet," he said with a laugh. He looked back to Aven and continued to chuckle. "If only you could turn that emotion into something more productive."

"I hate you!" Aven said lowly, the sharpness slicing out from under his breath like a dagger out of the night.

"Aven, enough!" Argovaron yelled. Tor looked in surprise to his mentor, then back to Aven and the emperor. Aven went to open his mouth, but Argovaron gave him a menacing stare, forcing the boy to shut it again. Aven's face contorted into discontent, as if the words he bit back were trying to claw their way out of his mouth.

"Argovaron, what of the girl? The bitch that Aven saved?" Mateus asked.

"She is resting in Aven's quarters," the advisor answered. He strode over, his black boots snapping into the granite. His white, shadowy cloak flowed behind him.

"Take her to the Slavemaster, I want her toyed with until she can't take it any longer."

"NO!" Aven screamed.

"Say that to me one more time and I will break your jaw, my son." Mateus glared down at Aven, hardly raising his voice.

"I said no!" Aven yelled. Mateus grinned, his upper lip peeling slowly over white teeth.

"Such fiery energy. I will snuff that out," Mateus said. He went to raise his hand, ready to beat Aven with the back of his pristine gauntlet.

"My Lord! May I offer a suggestion?" Argovaron said instantly, stepping forward. His movement was jittered, as if his body moved beyond his mind's thoughts.

"What, my advisor? What is it that your brain could possibly concoct now?"

"Why not let the girl become Aven's personal slave? What better way to punish him than to give him that which he despises. It'll be more long term." Argovaron tilted his head, waiting for an answer. Tor's heart lifted at the idea, his mind approving it instantly.

"I see …" Mateus paused and grazed a finger down the side of his face, his violet eyes became slits, and his forehead wrinkled in thought. "Very well, she is now your slave, son."

"I will not have a slave in—"

"Aven, you heard your father clearly," Argovaron interrupted the boy with a forceful step forward. As Mateus turned to return to his throne, Argovaron widened his eyes and nodded at Aven, as if to say _Just go with it you idiot!_ Tor grasped Aven's shoulder and squeezed it as he crouched down to his friend's ear.

"Don't start anything, Aven," he whispered. Aven's face flushed and his shoulders tensed, but then he relaxed his muscles and let out a long, ragged breath.

"Fine," he said to his father.

"Now, get lost before I change my mind," Mateus said without a backward glance. Tor nodded his head towards the large doors and gently pushed Aven towards them. Aven puffed his cheeks and crossed his arms before turning so hard that his cape swept out and crashed into Tor's legs. He marched out, his boots sounding as if they were cleaving through the stone floors. And then he was gone.

"What an insufferable brat," Mateus barked. He laughed and beat his knuckles off the glimmering Soulstone throne. The light from outside fractured as it passed through, splitting into vibrant colors. Slivers of the souls of ancient beings echoed from it, or at least Argovaron said that. He was one of the few that could hear the walls speak or hear the throne itself. Tor clenched his fists, hands shaking, as he listened to the emperor berate Aven.

"He is only a child, Mateus," Argovaron said, the edge of his voice having softened. His body was less rigid as he walked back to his side by the throne.

"And yet he is as worthless as his whore of a mother," Mateus spat, his pale cheeks reddening to crimson.

"And yet she was the most powerful user of magic this world has ever seen," Argovaron retorted. Tor caught the hint of a cocky grin, hidden behind the emperor.

"She was the key to my immortality! And then she went and killed herself!" The floor vibrated into Tor's boots from the energy Mateus was giving off.

"She died to protect the child both of you shared," Argovaron said. His voice sharpened then, as if struck by a whetstone a thousand times. Mateus turned to look at him, rising from his throne.

"You will watch how you speak to me, or I will have you dead, or even worse," Mateus said. "She died for a stupid reason, and with her went my immortality. Aven will never be what she was, he's too weak, too soft, and too kind. His magic will never suffice, he is nothing, and will always be nothing."

Tor feared Mateus like any sane man would. But if there were one person in the entire world that could stand as tall as the emperor, look him eye-to-eye, it was Argovaron. And in that moment, it was as if Argovaron was the one looming over the world.

"I have told you for years that you are wrong, and still you are."

"Get out of my sight."

Argovaron tugged his cape of ethereal light around him and strutted across the room, past Tor, and out of the doors. Mateus looked after him the entire way and only sat back down once Argovaron had left. Tor felt his muscles finally relax a minute later.

Soon after, Celes Chere, one of the ten royal commanders, walked in. She gave Tor the usual icy glare which he returned as if his face were a blank parchment. She sighed and brushed her long, blonde hair back over her metal armor.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Because I was summoned, what does it look like, sister?"

"Don't be smart with me."

"Would you rather I be dumb?"

"Tor, I—"

"Enough you two!" Mateus shouted. They both snapped to attention and knelt before the emperor.

"Forgive us, my lord," Celes said to the cold ground.

"Rise." And so they did. "Now, I shall get to the point because I've had enough trouble for one day. I know both of you are as weak as my good-for-nothing child. You have a soft spot for the prisoners. Celes … as you were one of them, I understand the natural inclination to feel pity, but in that carelessness, you let Project Y escape."

"Your Majesty, I had nothing to do with Project Y's escape, I—"

"And it was your love for my pet here that got her in the position she is." Mateus snapped his fingers and the girl with flowing green hair convulsed and screamed in pain, as if being struck by lightning. Tor and Celes both looked away.

"Look at her!" Mateus ordered. Tor brought his eyes back to her and watched her twitching on the ground, screams escaping her pale, cracked lips. Her broken nails clawed at the floor while her body shook, her back arched, and her feet kicked out at wild, random directions. Her piercing yells slammed off the Soulstone walls and ricocheted like stray arrows, jetting through the air. Tor glanced sideways at his sister, and saw tears well over her puffy cheeks, slipping over the bulges of the bags beneath her eyes. They betrayed sleepless nights since the escape. And in that moment, they shared something, and that was the pain that had come with everything that had occurred that day, just a week ago.

"Enough! Please!" Tor screamed. He stared at Mateus, a look begging for release. Seconds later, the girl stopped moving except to gasp for air as if there were none left in the world. "Please, not in front of my sister."

"As I said, you have too weak of hearts. And that is exactly why the one of my ten commanders of the Purple Legion is dead."

"Your Majesty, we didn't mean for King to die," Celes said.

"Have you reverted back to the names of the Pits, like uncivilized beasts? Well, _Eighteen_ , he is dead, and now _One_ has become the perfect pet of mass destruction," he said, waving a hand at the girl behind him, who had cowered into a corner. "Shin Verus' body doesn't even exist after what happened. And now I need someone that could match his skill, and frankly, I'm afraid neither of you could."

Celes let out a small sob next to Tor. Her hands fell flat to the floor, fingers spread wide, and tears splashed under her mess of hair. Tor broke rank and motioned toward her.

"Tor!" Mateus yelled.

"My Lord?" Tor asked, standing as still as a mountain.

"You're replacing Shin as one of the ten. Darkeye will see you, soon. Now take her and

get out of my sight."

Tor felt the world fade out for a moment, like black edges slowly seeped into his

peripherals, and the ice of Celes spread through him. Her frustration replaced her sorrow, and all through his body, he felt cold darkness, suppressing what should have been a happy feeling. Through the tall windows of the hall, oceanic wind sliced inside, whistling a harrowing tune.

"Tor! Go, now!"

"Y-yes, Your Majesty," he replied. When he went to grab Celes' arm, she was already up

and leaving, small shards of ice shattering from her footsteps, like percussive beats. He stared after her, looked back to the emperor, then to the girl named One recovering in her corner, then took his leave as a cloudy, cold day enveloped the nation of I'ltorien.

 ** _~-~-~-~-~-_**  
 ** _THW_**  
 ** _~-~-~-~-~-_**

X stopped yelling a few minutes later while being carried by the Judge Magister. He heaved great gasps of dry cries and his diaphragm contracted and swelled against the cold metal of her armor. Faces blurred with the stone walls as she took him deeper into the citadel, and eventually sat him in a chair in what looked like a dungeon cell. Fear bit through him, memories flashing like bursts of fire, igniting within him.

"Thank you, Claire," said a silky voice. It was deep and smooth, but X could sense an edge deep within it, like a cloaked dagger tipped with poison was ready to strike.

"I told you never to call me that," she answered back.

"As you wish." From the shadows walked the man X had seen in the Pits. The

Slavemaster. He wore all black clothes, and a dark hood hid his face. A gloved hand reached out and stroked X's cheek. He recoiled, as if touched by acid.

"You can leave now. I'll bring him back once I'm done," he said. She turned and left through the door, her boots smacking hard into the stone as she went. The ceiling in the room was low enough for a tall man to reach up and touch. Torches flickered to life along the walls, spluttering in their sockets. Many doors led out of the room, all were locked by a bolt.

"Well, Project X, welcome to the beginning of your new exercises. That is what we will call them from now on. You will exercise every day, and you will perform a new exercise every week. We need to …"

The Slavemaster paused. He ran his thick fingers through X's greasy, clumpy hair. The blond locks parted from his forehead and sweat glistened there in the torchlight.

"… tap into your true potential."

The Slavemaster grabbed X by the arm, pulling him fluidly from the chair, and led him into a darkly blue-tinted room. The walls and floor were bare and metal. X's feet felt cold at the touch. In the four corners were chains attached to large iron bands in the walls, with a large drainage grate in the middle. X's breath puffed out in white vapor, curling into nothing. His skin rippled in gooseflesh while every hair on his body prickled up. He involuntarily hunched his body forward and wrapped his body in his own arms.

"No, that will not be allowed in here," the Slavemaster said. He yanked X's arms away from each other as easily as ripping a bandage off. X felt the dull thud of the Slavemaster's boot kick him in the midsection. He was thrown back onto the floor and curled up in pain. The iciness of the floor bit into his back, and he gasped violently.

The Slavemaster clapped his hands, and the chains slithered to life. They slid towards X like predatory vipers, and they lashed out just the same. They wrapped around his wrists and ankles before melding together, locking in place. The chains pulled his limbs out, spreading him like a star. He looked up in the dark room at the ceiling and saw metal pipes over him. His eyes widened in fear.

X felt more coldness sink into his body when the Slavemaster ripped his clothes from his bruised body. He lay there, strapped to the ice-cold floor as naked as the day he was born. His body vibrated and thrummed with shivers. The Slavemaster stepped back towards the door and looked at him. X could not see his face, but knew that those eyes held some dark malice, something that wanted to see X suffer.

"Please … don't leave me here," X pleaded. The Slavemaster threw a switch down next to the wall and suddenly a spray of cold water erupted from the ceiling, showering X on the floor. He screamed at the sudden cold, and his breathing came and went like a ball racketing back and forth in a game of tennis. The water stopped pouring and began to drain under him. Small, cold drops rolled off his hairless chest. His blond hair lay in clumps around his head. He shook the water from his face, and felt his hair beginning to stiffen from the cold.

"I'll be back later," the man in the doorway said. He shut the door and locked it behind him. X found his voice and tried to scream. But only gasps came out, slowly, but uneven and shaky. The pain took over his body. He lay there, trying to count the time, but his mind would not work properly. Things blurred together, and sometime later, the water came again, colder than before, before stopping after a couple seconds.

He screamed, but it choked in his muscle's shock. The water began to freeze fully in his hair, and down what little leg hair he had. The metal chafed into his wrists and ankles. He tried to keep his eyes open in fear of them freezing shut. The cold seeped through every pore of his body and permeated into his bones. The skin pulled taut as slivers of ice formed around his body. He shook against the floor, wanting to scream, begging to scream, but the voice would not will itself from his body. His voice was the last bit of warmth he had in the world, the only fire that remained in this dark, barren wasteland of icy coldness.

The water came again, and so did the screams.

 ** _~-~-~-~-~-_**  
 ** _THW_**  
 ** _~-~-~-~-~-_**

"How are you feeling?"

She looked at him with a blank stare, like she had since she woke up. The boy sighed.

"Are you ever going to talk to me?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"I do not know."

"Okay then."

Aven slumped against the large, wooden frame of his bed. He curled a leg up so he could rest his chin on his knee. She sat in a corner, looking as emotionless as a plate or dead leaf. The warm sun's rays were strewn across the carpeted floor. Wind blew in and out through the large balcony doors.

"What is your name?"

"Subject #9,357," she responded. Her green eyes, laced with bits of teal betrayed nothing. She looked tactiful and surgical in her mannerisms. She was blunt, to the point, and without any feeling; scientific.

"Did you not have a name from before you were captured?"

"My parents called me Cuore."

"And so will I."

Aven was more casually dressed in his room, in some cotton shorts and shirt. Master Doavar had brought the girl her own clothes, and another servant had bathed her. She had curly green hair that curtained her round face. A small button nose sat between pale cheeks. She was about nine years old.

"You are the Prince?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"I am to serve you? Will I be hurt like the others?"

Aven sighed and ran his bony fingers through his hair. He breathed in deeply, with closed eyes, and let out the pent-up emotion in his heart. "You are supposed to serve me because the emperor said so. And no, I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."

"What is 'promise'?"

"It means …" Aven paused for a moment and felt as if his words had slid off his tongue and back down his throat. And while he tried to think of an answer for Cuore, his mind traveled backward through time.

 _"I'm going to kill you like the worthless brat you are!" The older soldier held Aven firmly by the neck and off the ground. He slapped at the man's arms, choking for air. The man drew a dagger from a sheath and was about to plunge it into Aven's abdomen when fire devoured the man. He let go instantly, and air rushed into Aven's parched lungs. He crawled away from the burning mass while more knights grabbed a struggling prisoner. He cast more spells at them, but too many had come. Aven and the other teen shared a quick glance, like a single drop of rain breaking the stillness of a pond, and then they broke._

"… it means you …"

 _"Why did you save me?"_

 _"Why would I let someone die?"_

 _"Thank you."_

 _"Heh, it's okay. I just … lived my life doing what's right in my heart."_

 _"Where did you come from?"_

 _"I don't remember anything."_

 _"I'll try my best to let you free, from behind these bars."_

 _"Thank you … what's your name?"_

 _"Aven."_

 _"My … I don't remember."_

 _"I promise I'll free you."_

 _"I promise to remember one day, hah!"_

"It means you never stop doing what you believe in. It means you always do what you say you will, to the very end."

* * *

 ** _Post Author's Note_**

 _So, there we have it! I really, really loved the ending to this chapter. Felt very poignant and strong to me. And writing the torture scene was a lot of fun, but it really made me feel uncomfortable, which I see as a good thing! There was a lot more to this chapter, so make sure to tell me what your favorite (or least favorite) bits were in the review! I'll try to update more regularly. I find myself with more time recently, so we'll see what I can do._

 _I love you all like Hobbits love food. See ya next time!_

 _~TorNathan_


	5. Darkened, Crested Dunes

**_Author's Note_**

 _Well, here we are again. Life got ... bad and good. Mainly busy. So busy that this might be the first thing I have written in a long time. I feel very guilty about my lack of updates, but with this semester ending, I feel inspired to get back at it. I recently found someone that gives me great inspiration, and I hope that will continue driving me forward, especially to my university graduation in May. So, here I am getting some writing done._

 _Any updates? Learning Japanese in college, that's hard but fun. I have been addicted to FFXIV. Been recovering well form my surgery. But all of that aside, it's the same ol' me, just busy as always. I am no longer going to neglect this work!_

 _A simple chapter here. It has some really strong characterization and writing in my opinion, but it is a little light on the plot. A good chapter to get us back in the swing of it, I believe._

 _As always, please read and enjoy the chapter! Leave a review and I'll get back to you at the end!_

* * *

 **Chapter V**

 **Darkened, Crested Dunes**

Sora flipped the eggs. Pretty good, he thought. Pretty good.

"It's literally only an egg," Riku commented.

"But hey, I'm killing it right now," Sora laughed. He stood in Merlin's kitchenette in just his pajamas, hair messy and wild, face bright and full of energy. His wrist flicked the small pan, and the eggs flew white-over-yellow and slammed back into the pan with a light sizzle.

"Did you see that? I'm too good."

"Sheesh, Sora, save some talent for the rest of us." His best friend barked a short, quippish laugh before magically heating his coffee. The mug glowed a soft red as steam furled from the contents. Yuffie drooled onto the dining table, her cheek flat and spread out along the old, scuffed wood.

"Get it yourself, Riku." Sora flipped the eggs again, and as satisfied as he could be, he served them to Yuffie. She perked up quickly, and began to eat with swift movements.

"Mickey should be here in a bit to explain the missions," Riku said.

"I just hope it's exciting!" Sora replied, cracking open some more eggs. His body flowed to his own rhythm, cooking and fidgeting in the moment. Kairi passed through the threshold into the kitchenette. She wore her favorite outfit for adventure, the familiar pinks and reds laying one over the other. Sora glanced at her and smiled back down at the pan, and sneakily added an extra egg—just for her.

"Smells good in here," she said. Sora began to scramble the food.

"Yes, the master of food himself is at the helm. Please, take a seat and enjoy the show!" Sora proclaimed. The steel of the pan cracked against the oven. Salt and pepper rained lightly into the buttery, hot skillet. His friends' laughter was gentle, but not without enthusiasm. He lay a plate of scrambled eggs in front of Kairi before sitting down across from Riku.

"Do you think it'll be easy to rescue the princesses?" Kairi asked? Sora forked a chunk of sausage and ate it, juice dribbling over his lower lip and down his chin. Riku shoved a napkin into his face, forcing a giggle from both the girls at the table.

"Well, Kai …" he began as he wiped his chin clean, "I've never once had an easy time with Maleficent." She stared downcast into her food. He could read her words as they left her parting lips.

"Yes. We will win." The assertive resonance in his words made them feel like steel, as strong as the Keyblade he called his weapon of choice. Kairi's weapon was a fierce, unwavering heart. And Riku's was determination. The three of them shared a long glance, as if the bridges to their hearts needed a construction check-up. And when they had agreed, silently, that the wires holding the bridges together were up to code, they all smiled, and resumed eating.

Sora looked over with cheeks puffed out from too much food to find Merideth sitting at a window, looking out at the morning haze. Her hands lay neatly in her lap. It was hard to tell if she was even breathing. Sora wondered about her, and felt a familiar presence nagging at the far reaches of his mind. Her eyes, her stare, the way she acted like a doll without comfort … it all felt familiar to him.

 _Kairi!_ his mind shouted. She reminded him of Kairi when her heart had taken refuge within his own. Kairi was almost lifeless when she sat unblinking on Captain Hook's ship. And that's the feeling he got when he saw Merideth's blank stare into a window.

 _She's staring out of the window, Sora, not into it_ he told himself. But part of him wasn't so sure.

"Hey, Merideth! Do you want me to make you some food?" he called out. She blinked a few times, almost if he had woken her from a deep slumber. Her very long, blonde hair shifted along her back as she faced him. The corners of her mouth bent upwards in a small smile, and her eyes closed.

"Oh, no thank you, Sora. I ate earlier when only Merlin was awake." That smile of hers widened a bit. And the eerie feeling of remembering a lifeless Kairi doll left his heart. He smiled back.

"Geez, I couldn't wake up that early even if Kingdom Hearts itself were crashing through my room." They both shared a laugh, and in a few moments, her body twisted back to most definitely look _out_ of the window, the laughter filtering out of her like a withering lung, and then she was a statue yet again.

His head jerked back at the counter where he had prepared the breakfast for the others. The pudgy brown of the wood was partially obscured by the young woman, swathed in her black cloak. Split ends of fabric riddled the cloak, as if the thing were nearly coming apart from the inside out. The edges were torn, and the thickness of it pressed heavily into Alexia.

"Oh, hey." Sora scratched his cheek. There had been no noise, and he was unsure if she had just materialized out of thin air. Her head turned slightly over her left shoulder, silver strands of thin hair falling lazily over the tops and back of her shoulders, but not much after that. She blinked a few times, opened her mouth, but thought better of it and continued to fixing her own breakfast. She ignored the sausage that was prepared and instead readied a simple oatmeal.

While Sora talked with his friends, and the Radiant Garden group were busy at work around the house, it almost seemed like a normal life, or even a normal adventure without the threat of Maleficent and the kidnappings. And he laughed, he smiled, and he ate into his breakfast bit by bit—as sloppily as ever—and wondered aloofly, like he was falling through clouds, just where the next leg of the journey would take him.

The chatter of the house was broken about an hour later when King Mickey arrived. The door scuffed open, bringing in a gust of harsh wind from outside, and then he shut it with a slam. He bounded to the center of the large living room, leaping from furniture piece to piece, and pressed a button along the wall. Cloud beckoned Sora to come over. Sora stood up, grabbed one last sausage link from the counter, and then was forcibly pulled in by Riku. All of them stood or sat around the room while Mickey stood on top of the circular coffee table. A projection of the worlds appeared, revolving very slowly. The lights went off. Sora's eyes traced the longitude and latitude lines of different worlds, watching them flare in different colors, different brightnesses, and then in horror as some vanished.

"So, the mission." King Mickey bowed his head. The soft cloth of his gloves rubbed against one another as his pulled lightly at the joints of his small fingers. He gave them all a long glance, sighed deeply like along wind passing through the cavern of his throat, and then began.

"The only princesses to have been taken are Snow White and Cinderella," he said with utmost certainty, and Sora felt uneasy with that. It was like his words were cementing truth into his bones.

"Then all we gotta do is save them, right? I've done it once before, I'll do it again." Sora clenched his fist tightly along his side, and his teeth gritted down. This was no joke to him, as he was normally the joking guy, but now he was serious, and seriousness meant lives were going to be saved. The fun of cracking eggs earlier was slipping away, being replaced by determination.

"It's not so simple, Sora." The cement covered more bones, and locked them harder. Both fists tightened now. "Maleficent has control of the Organization's old castle, and probably the largest army of Heartless ever imagined. She is more powerful than ever. Not only is she taking the princesses again, but worlds are also blinking out." As he said it, some specs of light within the hologram disappeared.

"We'll beat her." Sora looked straight into the black eyes of the king. He felt warmth from those dark eyes, warmth and hope that tried to fill him, yearned to believe him. Sora screamed at his bones to break through that cement and show the king—to show everyone that he was going to do this again.

"Besides, I have Kairi and Riku with me this time. We're unstoppable now." For a moment the grin returned. For a moment he swayed and nudged into Cloud. For a moment he really thought it was a done deal, that they had won before they began.

"Riku is staying here."

His word left without thought. "What?"

Riku, as if now realizing he was indeed a part of this mission briefing, blindly reiterated, "What?" Even some of the Radiant Garden gang shifted in their seats. Who _didn't_ expect the three of them to go on this last journey together?

"I fear the worst. I believe this will be our final conflict with Maleficent, but I also think she will not go down without a war."

War was one of those words, Sora had learned, that you did not say idly. At three letters, it was one of the biggest words he knew, a word that brought with it many others, notably death. He felt the cement drag him further down, so much that he had to sit in a chair next to him. The old leather indented silently, the wood creaked slightly. War was something he never thought of.

"Do you mean she is going to attack Radiant Garden?" Kairi asked. She held a hand over her chest, her bracelet and lucky charm resting against her.

 _Promise me you'll bring it back._

"I don't know where she is going to attack, how, when …" King Mickey sat down harshly on the table, and the hologram flickered off, the lights coming up. "But we need to prepare."

"Sora, Kairi … you will take your Nobodies and Merideth to different worlds, seal the Keyholes, and save the princesses before they are captured. Riku, you will take Alexia and go on various errands between Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, and Destiny Islands. Gang," he said, turning to the rest, "you will stay here and start up our base of operations. This is what we're doing for the time being and I am going to go back to my castle and and make sure its defenses hold up."

The room was silent, each member of this force staring into their king. His voice shook into their bones, and the cement finally broke away, and Sora felt that regalness emanate from him stronger than he ever had before. He felt fire stir within him, licking at his muscles, pushing past his pores, releasing.

"Is that clear, everyone?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." It was unanimous and in sync. No one was going to back down from the call.

"I'm very proud of the determination you've already shown, just show more, and we'll get 'em for sure this time."

 _Promise me …_

Under his breath, very shallowly, he breathed out "I promise" and locked his jaw. Mickey's mouth opened and closed, but the words sounded like ocean waves, crashing over him, _through_ him. He had one thing on his mind, and that was to bring them _all_ back. Every princess, and then when they were so indisputably safe that even Mickey himself couldn't harm them, then he was going to bring back the light and end Maleficent once and for all.

 _~-~-~-~-~-_  
 _THW_ _  
_ _~-~-~-~-~-_ _ **  
**_

Riku was the first to go through the aged, metal door and out into the back lot. The _Highwind_ was resting there like a giant beast sleeping away the winter, and he felt that for just a moment, if he weren't looking, it would pounce upon him and take them both into deep darkness.

 _Of course it won't. It's not a Heartless._

Sora followed soon after. Riku looked at his best friend, who was smiling as if he were going to the beach, and not the aggravatingly hot sands of Agrabah. But that was Sora, and he always smiled. Riku often wondered if it was a perfectly constructed mask, something he has made with such scrutiny, that it would never falter. It wasn't like when they were kids. He almost never smiled then. Riku approached him.

"Sora … I—"

 _"I'm … I'm s-sorry, Riku." Sora was crying again. And Riku wasn't. Sora was holding the broken halves of a toy boat, no longer than half a meter, in both of his trembling, five-year-old hands. Riku wondered if each half could sail through Sora's tears, or if they would sink in the mess._

 _"Sora, it's okay." It wasn't, really. He had spent a few weeks making that toy boat with used popsicle sticks and glue from his aunt and uncle's workshop room. It was the kind of glue to repair furniture, and he thought that it had to be good enough for some simple popsicle sticks. It was definitely worth sneaking into the workshop at night, stealing a bit of glue, glob by glob, like it was some rare pirate's treasure, and then going back to his room to finish his boat._

 _"It … it is?" Sora's words choked through his tears, like his throat muscles were contracting randomly._

 _No, it isn't. "Yeah, Sora. It's okay."_

 _Sora's tears slowly dried, just like the popsicle sticks after their ice cream had been eaten. Riku felt his first ever moment of sadness, mixed with anger. But he couldn't be angry at Sora for what was an accident. It wasn't in Sora's control, even if he wanted to believe it was. This was his best friend, and he realized now, at the young age of six, that being best friends meant that not everything was fun, happy, or without worry. Right now he also felt sadness, and anger because Sora had broken his boat. But it was also being best friends that meant you looked at the broken boat, and you say "It's just popsicle sticks."_

 _It was just popsicle sticks._

 _"I-I can help you make a new one!" Sora said. A small smile crept into his face, but it slowly drowned to monotone. "But you don't have anymore popsicle sticks, do you?"_

 _"No, I don't."_

 _"Then what can we do?"_

 _We don't need to build anything at all. Just let me build what I want. But he couldn't think these things, because he cared about Sora, like he was a little, annoying brother that cried too much. We don't need to build anything at all._

 _"How about we build a big raft? With logs and rope and everything. It'll take a long time, but we can do that." And if Riku had to be honest with his best friend, he would have said the idea kind of made him excited._

 _"Are you sure? It'll be hard … and what if I break something?" Sora didn't smile enough._

 _"C'mon Sora, you need to smile, be happy."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"Because a captain needs to be brave and strong and not scared or sad." And that was the truth to Riku. And while he wanted to be captain, maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Because when he explained this to Sora, Sora's smile broke out wide, wider than he had ever seen it._

 _"Okay! I'll be captain and you build the raft! I won't break it that way! And I will be brave and smile." Sora laughed. Riku smiled. This was his best friend that he was happy with, angry at, and sad that his boat was splintered down the middle, like a bolt of lightning had struck it from the bottom._

 _"Sounds like a plan, Sora—"_

"Riku?"

Riku shook his head and looked to Sora. His friend had lowered the boarding ramp to the ship. The rest of their friends and allies spilled out of Merlin's house, all saying their respective goodbyes to Kairi, Merideth, and the ethereal visages of Roxas and Naminé. He blinked three times.

"It's nothing." Sora's smile slowly returned.

"Geez, Riku, you had me worried." Riku gave a weak chuckle and smirk. _I am worried, Sora._

"You should say goodbye to everyone first," Riku said. Sora nodded sharply, and then began to make rounds, talking to everyone has he got ready to set sail. Kairi replaced Sora's spot, and pulled Riku into a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you, Riku." She held him firmly but with a subtle softness. He returned that sentiment. She still smelled of salt and sand, vanilla laced throughout.

"Take care of him, and of yourself, okay?"

"Of course. We'll _all_ end this, once and for all. Do your part, okay?"

"As always, _princess_." And that chuckle was more real. She giggled and let go, going over to the King and leaving Riku alone. And then, it felt like the world quieted down, and in fact, that's what happened as the small crowd thinned into the building. King Mickey and Leon waited outside still. Merlin was busy magicking Sora, Kairi, and Merideth's belongings into the gummi ship. Sora came back to him.

And again, he felt this anger and sadness. But it also just wasn't Sora's fault this happened. Just like the toy boat all those years ago. Sora wrapped his arms tightly around Riku, a hug much more cementing than Kairi's. Riku held his best friend just as tightly.

"Be careful, Sora. Take care of them, and yourself."

"Well duh, I got this."

Riku wouldn't let Sora see his own tears. They were small and dried before the two boys let go. But that hug showed only love, and strong love like real brothers shared.

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too."

And when both felt their tears stop, and the love flow through both of their hearts, they broke away, and they both smiled. _Be a strong captain. Brave._

"I'll see you soon, and then we'll kick Maleficent's butt!" Sora smiled as wide as when Riku told him he would be captain of the raft when they were six and five.

 _She isn't just popsicle sticks. None of this is just popsicle sticks. Why do you just have to leave … ?_

"That's the spirit. Now get going." Sora smiled and nodded, bounding to the ramp and up into the ship where the two girls were waiting for him. Roxas melded with Sora as Naminé formed with Kairi.

"See you all soon!" Sora called out with a goofy wave. The ramp lifted and shifted into the ship before steam started to sputter out of it. _Don't cry anymore, Sora._

And the ship sailed off, roaring like the beast it was. Riku watched it until he could no longer see it, or hear it. _Don't cry anymore._

His cyan eyes didn't leave that sky for nearly ten minutes.

 _~-~-~-~-~-_  
 _THW_ _  
_ _~-~-~-~-~-_ _ **  
**_

Kairi snapped out of her chair in the cockpit. Cloud had tried to teach her the workings of the gummi ship, but the time they spent together had been too brief to accomplish any real groundwork in her brain. She had been unable to retain a lot of what he had said. And now they were on the way to Agrabah, a world Kairi had been very excited to see. She missed Jasmine, as well as the other princesses, and wanted to see the homes of them all.

"But I'm telling ya, Kai, it's _so_ hot there," Sora complained. He shifted the ship into autopilot. Splattered on the navigation screen in big, blue letters, the travel time was estimated at a bit over three days. There was a quiet _thrum_ that vibrated through the whole ship. It felt like a part of Kairi, like it was in the back of her mind, but always there.

"Then we'll dress accordingly and drink plenty of water. Don't tell me you wore your normal clothes in the desert, Sora?" She giggled softly at his expense. He threw his hands up in defense.

"It's not like we had time to go shopping for desert clothes, Kai!"

"For two years you never bought appropriate clothes for different places? You're almost seventeen and you can't shop for some simple travel clothes?" The giggles burst into laughter like bubbling water blasting into a geyser. Sora opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then huffed, crossing his arms and walking away. Kairi had to wipe tears from her eyes.

"I'm glad Merlin and Leon packed us some travel necessities like desert clothes," Kairi called out after him. The door that led in and out of the cockpit _whooshed_ up automatically. Out in the "living room" of sorts was Merideth. She sat still on a very worn sofa, staring into a blank television.

"Hey, Merideth," Kairi said, taking a seat next to her. "Sora is clueless, you'll have to get used to it."

"Hey!"

"Yes, I see this."

"HEY!"

Kairi felt that the laughter was starting to hurt. Merideth smiled a bit, and Sora was off complaining to anyone or anything that would listen, mainly himself and the surrounding objects.

"Merideth, you're pretty quiet, aren't you?" Kairi asked. The young woman's blonde hair flowed around her like liquid light, sunbeams cascading over defined shoulders. And those dark, green eyes stared out like pockets of forest caught in the sun.

"I guess so. I remember being this way for a long time."

"Where are you from?"

"I don't remember. It feels like a part of my life is just … missing. I want to travel and find it." Kairi blinked in confusion. How could someone's life be missing? But then the sudden boldness from Merideth took her by surprise.

"Well, I am glad you are helping us while you try to find your answers." Merideth stared at her, or maybe it was _through_ her, and then smiled more.

"I'll find my light." Kairi shared her smile for a brief moment. Then Merideth got up and walked over to the hallway that led to their bedrooms. Sora was over in the kitchen, still complaining to the air. And Kairi slumped back into the couch. It smelled like feathers, dog, and Sora.

"What a weird mix," she muttered quietly. She yearned for more of the Sora in it all, but broke from that, looking over at the real deal. He was, indeed, clueless.

"Sora, are you quite done over there?" He stopped instantly. His mouth was locked open in the middle of his sentence, his leg hiked up awkwardly, a punch cocked back and ready to punch an imaginary Heartless.

"Uh … no." And then he punched that Heartless before laughing and walking back to her. He plopped into the sofa hard enough to make it scoot on the floor. He kicked his shoes off and chucked them into a corner and then laid out on the couch, propping his legs on and over Kairi, his feet on the armrest. He had leg hair now, and it was fine and almost blond. She sighed and locked her hands together, resting her arms on his legs. He smelled of salt, sand, and some dark cologne she had never known the name of. Its name to her was _Sora_ , and that's all it ever had to be.

"The princesses will be fine, right, Sora?" she asked. He rolled to his side so that his calves pressed into her stomach, and he bent one arm under his head. He reached onto the floor and grabbed an old remote, covered in dust and old crumbs. The television glowed to life, and it was just world news out of Radiant Garden. News about the world order being broken, and how panic was spreading.

"I'm sure they will, Kai. I haven't failed yet. And this time I already have you with me." He was watching the television, and she allowed herself to smile and blush. His face was blank for once. He needed to shave again already. She felt her heart beat in her chest like a drum in a parade, large and loud thuds in the cage of her body. Was this journey one long parade?

 _Don't be silly, we're not on a parade._

But they were definitely marching for something, to the sound of their own hearts. But something about Sora made her's beat a little harder and a little faster. Maybe it was because her heart had once taken refuge within his own, that that single act had linked them together. But that was wrong, she thought. She had always felt her heart flutter more quickly around him, since maybe they were eleven or twelve.

Her hands opened, and her palms rested on his hairy calves, the fingers wrapping very softly along the muscle. Her fingers grazed over small scars that curved along his legs like calligraphy script. "Sora, I—"

 _"Wait, Kairi! Look at this!" Sora had cut her off. He recently turned twelve, just a month after herself. She sighed and sat back down on a log, and leaned back against the small shed on their play islet. He darted inside, and there was shuffling, and the sound of wood knocking against wood. He fumbled back out, tripping over his own feet in his excitement. He kicked up sand with bare feet. His white shirt with blue trim, red shorts … it all made him uniquely him. It was Sora, and that's all he had to be, Kairi thought._

 _He was holding a wooden sword, hand-carved from driftwood. It was simple, with some twine wrapped tightly around the handle for a grip. He swung it goofily in the air a few times._

 _"Riku made it for me!" He stabbed forward, piercing the armor of some great warrior._

 _Kairi was impressed that Riku had carved it. Sora continued to swing it in different arcs and motions, and already he was rapidly controlling his form. And it was in that moment that she first noticed his body, that his old favorite shirt was getting too small for him, and that he was developing muscles like Riku._

 _And her heart fluttered, beating to a parade that had started some long time ago, a time in a secret cave unadorned by drawings. The parade, then, didn't have drums to guide it, but when Sora threw his arms overhead in a long strike, lifting his shirt up too high, she found the drums … and they were loud._

His calf muscle flexed under her fingers, pulling her out of her thoughts. He looked over his shoulder at her with just one eye as blue as the ocean.

"What were you saying Kai?"

 _We're not on a parade, Sora, didn't you know?_

"I'm just glad we're together for this journey." Her words tumbled out of her mouth like cascading dominos, as if the pieces clacked together harshly. He simply smiled and looked back at the television, and his body shifted, pushing into her even more.

"I'm happy, too."

She smiled at that and felt her body relax, and her eyes grew heavy as if small beings were yanking them down. The television's sound droned through her ears and the world darkened slightly. Her hands lay on his leg still, and sleep took her.

Later, Kairi awoke with a start. The shadowed claws of Heartless that had pierced her abdomen faded with the nightmare. The room was dark save the flickering of the television. Her body had slumped over sideways and into Sora, who had curled in such a way as to allow her room. She realized in that moment that she had a death grip on his leg, and let go.

"That's not a Keyblade," she whispered to herself. She began to sit up straight, her mess of hair tangled around her face, but then stopped. His body was warm and somehow soft over his toned muscles, and she felt herself slide back to where she was, close against him, her head resting on his thigh.

 _That cologne is so good._

 _"Should I come out and smell? Or perhaps ask him what it is he wears?"_ Naminé said. Kairi's face flushed deep red and she went to yell, but closed her mouth instead.

 _"No, do not make this embarrassing for me."_ She answered. She felt a giggle resonate from within her heart and then fade. Kairi sighed out and closed her eyes, waiting for him to wake up first. Right now, she was too content to lay here on his legs and feel so attached to him.

 _~-~-~-~-~-_  
 _THW_ _  
_ _~-~-~-~-~-_ ** _  
_**

Merideth wrote in a tattered journal. The binding was coming loose, frayed bits of leather and twine popped out of the spine of it. She wrote with a pen as black as night, with a red, etched eye on the side. Every word she wrote quickly disappeared into the journal. They eye would glow, and she would hear a voice in her head answer back.

 _Keep a close eye on him. He is vital to my master's plans._

She wrote her reply on the pages, the color of faded straw. The eye glowed again.

 _Do not fail me, Merideth. I am targeting my own prey, and you must secure the boy for me._

The pen scribbled hard into the notebook, the fingers twitching back and forth violently. She had to lessen her grip, or else she would rip through the page.

 _Your heart? Your feelings? You can have those back when you have earned them._

And she wanted to cry. She even tried to. She threw the book away into a corner of her gummi ship bedroom. She threw the pen, too, watching the red eye fade. She tried so hard to force tears out of her eyes. She even clawed into her arms as hard as she could. But her heart couldn't will sadness out of her. It only bore frustration at the lack of any other emotion.

She sat there trying to cry for a good part of the night, but withered skeletons can't cry.

 _~-~-~-~-~-_  
 _THW_ _  
_ _~-~-~-~-~-_ ** _  
_**

A few short days later, Sora pulled the gummi ship to a complete halt. The last days had been spent training with both the girls, trying to get them more prepared for the journey to come. He had quickly surmised that Kairi was going to be very good at magic. And Merideth was a pro with her bow, able to take any target out he made for her. Roxas and Naminé had also trained with their newfound ability to become whole by the magic of their Keyblades.

Below them, twirling forever, was the mass of the world of Agrabah.

"We're finally here!" Kairi exclaimed. Sora nodded and went to putting the ship in hibernation mode. He pocketed the device that they would have to use to beam them back onto the ship as well.

"Do you guys have everything you need?" Sora asked as he got up. He was decked out in his favorite adventuring attire, slightly fixed to fit him better by Merlin. Kairi was wearing her favorite gear, too, and Merideth wore an assortment of black leathers. Her golden hair really stuck out because of it, like a sun in a lake of black water.

"Yeah," they both said. He motioned them to the beaming room, a small thing just off the cockpit. The three of them crammed in and the doors sealed shut.

"Well, Kairi, Merideth, our adventure begins. Let's go and secure Jasmine!" Sora smiled widely, and for some reason he felt the urge to grab their hands. He squeeze them firmly and looked between the two sets of eyes staring back at him. He felt fire and confidence swirl inside of him and burst out like an explosion.

"Let's kick Maleficent's butt and take back the light!" The girls smiled just like he did, and they all flashed in a blink of light.

Moments later, they appeared at the bottom of a dune, the harsh sands blowing all around them. Sora quickly wrapped his desert shawl around his face, and pulled some goggles out of his pocket and put them on. He looked to see if Kairi and Merideth were with them, and he was thankful that they were. Like him, they were wrapping up.

He motioned with his hand to follow him. They climbed away from the swirling sands and up a very large dune. The sand crumbled underfoot, making the climb a rough one. After a few labored minutes, they reach the top, and Sora felt his limbs go numb, his jaw go slack, and his hair prickle all over his body.

"What in the …"

The trio stood at the top of this dune, and all the dunes in front of them, the sand that spanned between them and the city of Agrabah, was fractured. Large gashes of purple and black streaked across the land. Sand fell like waterfalls into the open wounds. Purple smoke drifted from them, and darkness clouded the air like a fog. Kairi gripped his arm.

"Sora … look …" She held out a trembling hand. He followed her gaze and felt his mind stutter. The entire city of Agrabah was swirling in a bubble of darkness. He could barely see the palace's form behind it all. The sands crashed as darkness tore great rifts through the dunes. His jaw clenched tightly, brows furrowed.

Agrabah had grown dark, and they had been too late.

* * *

 _ **Post Author's Note**_

 _Well, there we have it! Another chapter done, and one of my favorite scenes in this current rewrite. I really enjoyed writing Riku's POV, and I want to take Kairi in a different direction than before. Same destination, but a different way of getting there. And I believe Merideth has improved so much since she was last seen as a "character."_

 _Thanks for sticking with me my few loyal readers! I hope you enjoy this and look for the next chapter soon!_

 _~TorNathan_


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